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Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Analysis

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As a teenager it is difficult to make bold decisions by yourself. Especially if you are an Indian, like Arnold Spirit, who made a bold choice to find hope. Arnold is a fourteen year old drawler in search for a way out of the reservation to better his education. However, along the journey there are some obstacles he approaches because he is an Indian who is poor and has a disability. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part- Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit, otherwise known as Junior, demonstrates empowerment by leaving the reservation he lives on to find hope in an all white school called Reardan.
First and foremost, Junior shows empowerment by simply taking his teacher’s advice. One day, after Junior had hit Mr.P in the face with a textbook, he found Mr. P on his doorstep ready to have a conversation. However, Junior thought he had come back for his revenge but was the complete opposite. Mr.P said to Junior, “You’ve been fighting since you were born...And now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope”(Alexie, 43). Eventually Junior had thought about what Mr.P said to him and made his power or choice to leave the reservation to join Reardan high school as a freshman. This is something no other Indian would have had the confidence to do like Junior.
Similarly, Junior …show more content…

For instance, Junior had made the varsity basketball team for Reardan. He was considered their secret weapon. Then, for his first game he had to play against Wellpinit, his old school, and had to see all the people who were ashamed by him. Junior had said to himself during the game, “But, no, I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t foul him. That would be like giving up”(Alexie, 183). His short-term goal was to beat Rowdy and so Junior. They had one by forty-two points. He was determined and had the power to do it if he put hard work and effort into the game and it

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In the novel,Absolutely True Diary Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Axle,Arnold spirit, the protagonist, is a nerdy kid with health problems. Arnold has big hands and a big head that many people make fun of him for. Also, he is so smart that he has to act dumb so that Indians won’t know how smart he is. ‘’like he said in the book that I have to look dumb near them so that they will now that i don 't belong’’. Arnold has health problems because he said that it happens to him in the beginning of the book.

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One internal expectation for Junior was him never giving up. Junior leaving for Rearden was a part of his internal expectation of fighting against the external expectations. “I had to add my hope to somebody else’s hope. I had to multiply hope by hope” (43). He left the reservation in order to help his outcome of never giving up.

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With the majority of the American Indian population living in urban environments instead of on reservation lands, American Indian youth and adolescence often struggle with understanding their personal identity. The 1993 film Grandfather Sky follows the story of a young Navajo teenager named Charlie who is sent to live on the reservation with his uncle Ben after being arrested several times in his hometown of Denver, Colorado. Charlie’s experiences illustrate the major lifestyle differences between living in an urban city and on traditional reservation lands and make clear the effects that these lifestyle factors have on the overall wellbeing of American Indian youth. As the beginning scenes of Grandfather Sky suggest, while living in the city, Charlie was largely unaccepted and misunderstood due to the color of his skin and his cultural association.

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Junior stated, “I thought that she’d start paying more attention to me and that everybody else would notice and then I’d become the most popular dude in the place. ”(81) He was obviously the only Indian guy in school and didn’t have many friends at all,except 2 people,Roger and Penelope. This situation turned into wanting more friends,less enemies,and wanting to impress Penelope. Junior was obviously poor and lived on the reservation.

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Courage is exemplified in the novel by, “They wanted a better life for my sister and me. My sister is running away to get lost, but I am running away because I want to find something.” (page:46) “You’ll be the first one to ever leave the reservation this way,” Mom said. (page:47) Junior attending Reardan an all-white school even though, he know want he would be known as traitor on the reservation.

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When Junior goes to this school people treat him differently he acts differently he even goes by a different name. He doesn’t want to forget about his heritage and the people he left behind but he feels like this school will get him on a better path for life. He also feels a little bit guilty about leaving his friends and family from the reservation behind and moving on in life. You can see this in a quote from the book "My name is Junior," I said. "And my name is Arnold.

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He realizes that his team has numerous economic and social advantages. Junior’s ability to address topics like poverty, racism and bullying with humor is a significant characteristic of his voice. For Junior, as well as his friends Rowdy and Penelope, part of growing up is recognizing that the world is more complicated than a strict division of opposites, it’s possible to be more than one thing—part of countless different “tribes”—is what enables him to unify his split identity and, as someone destined to travel beyond the reservation, navigate the world both figuratively and

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Since the beginning of the world, everyone has their own point of view on the battle between good and evil. Since these two are opposite behaviors, good and evil must have nothing in common, right? I believe that evil is only evil by the way someone perceives it to be. For example, let 's say a man robbed a woman 's purse ; to that guy who stole the purse, it 's probably the only way to get enough money to stay, but to the woman she just lost the money she had earned. Now to the woman, the man was bad, but to the man, he is just trying to survive.

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Faced with many obstacles from poverty to racial stereotypes, Junior must override them if he is to make his life better than that of fellow Indians. Interestingly, rather than letting the obstacles hold him back Junior understands that his destiny is in his own hands and he must celebrate who he is even if it means fighting. In the end, we see a boy who have managed to overcome all hardships to get to the top, even if it means making tough choices such as changing schools, therefore is could be seen that race and stereotypes only made Junior

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It is a very emotional scene, showing a change in identity. Junior wants to be himself, but also to go out and to seize amazing opportunities beyond the reservation. Junior decides to do both. He stays on the rez, but also commits to going to school in Reardan, an all-white town outside the reservation. People aren’t born strong - they become strong.

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He is hopeful that he can one day leave the reservation and be successful, the only way to do that is to go to reardon. To conclude, Junior is very optimistic, that he can leave the reservation and become

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Junior loses a lot of friends and family at the young age of fourteen. He gets bullied because he was born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull, but he has his best friend Rowdy there to help him. Junior realizes that he needs to leave the reservation to get a better life for himself. He goes to a new school off the

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Facing struggles of life defines one’s character in life. The ability to confront one’s problems speaks volumes about their strength in character, hopefulness, and flexibility as a person. Through struggles, sacrifice, and tragedy, Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior adapts to survive difficult situations and faces his problems head-on. As he makes radical changes to his life, adapts to unfamiliar culture, and finds himself amongst misery and heartbreak, Junior demonstrates this ability to overcome wicked adversity and struggles.

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Mr. P advises Junior to have perseverance so, he should never give up on his hope of becoming better. Mr. P believes hope leads to greater things, a better future. Therefore, he wants Junior to have hope and leave the reservation for the greater thing, a better future. Another example is Junior's experience at Reardan. For instance, while Roger is making inappropriate comments, Junior decides to defend Indians, black people, and buffalo, so “he punched Roger in the face”(Alexie 65).

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Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11).

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