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Arnold Spirit Character Analysis

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Have you ever felt as if someone was treating you differently than others just because of the way you look? Arnold Spirit is the main character also known as Junior in the book, by “ Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. He narrates his own life as a Native American and the ones around him that were not Native Americans. In the story, there are a lot of stereotypes that revolve around Junior being a Native American. Sherman Alexie compares and contrasts the societal Native American expectations centered around their stereotypes, which helps Arnold uses this as a drive to ignore them and become more aware of his true self. Native American’s expectations are centered around stereotypes by people treating them as if they are not capable of succeeding in any way. When someone is constantly telling you something about you, eventually you begin to believe in it and make it true. That means that if someone is constantly telling you that there is something …show more content…

I do this when I am mad I put distance on everyone and everything. “ Yep, I belong two black I month club sure I want to go outside every kid wants to go outside.” “But it's safer at home”. “ So mostly I hang out alone in the bedroom read books and draw cartoons .”( Spirit, 5) Arnold is ignoring people on the Rez and all the negativity so that he can find his true self. Native Americans are constantly being centered by stereotypes on a day to day bases. Arnold has to face these stereotypes , but they don’t phase him as much as others because of his mindset. By listening to his mind rather than what others say about him he begins to find the real him. So that being said the Native Americans negative stereotypes are actually a positive for Arnold to find who he actually is rather than who people portray him to

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Everybody goes through hardship even Native American boys on the spokane reservation except this boys hardship is way harder than most people. This story is about the personal story of a Native American boy who overcomes bullying, grief, and poverty to become more then then the people around him. First off the character Arnold Spirit Jr had so many bullying experiences in this story it wasn’t even funny, so i thought bullying would be a good topic to talk about in this essay. The first bullies talked about in this story are the Andruss brothers, they were thirty year old men who bullied a teenager. In the story the Andruss brothers were introduced shortly after Arnold and his bestfriend Rowdy arrived at a powwow near thier home.

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All Arnold’s life, he thought that non-Indians had it better, but this passage indicates that he saw that was not always true. While they did live in poverty, Arnold realized that at least he had his family. This brought on a revelation that non-Indians didn’t have it perfect, and what Arnold may be lacking, others are missing what Arnold does have. This discovery in that everyone was missing something perhaps bridged a stronger connection to the two worlds Arnold was living

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Instances of the former assertion can be seen all throughout the novel, where the Californios’ describe themselves as native Californians, but this is especially important once the Alamares begin to lose social standing. Szeghi emphasizes that Ruiz de Burton consistently uses the term “native” to underscore the Californios prior occupancy of the land to bolster their claims, “however, assigning this aspect of native identity—along with the land rights it entails—to Mexicana/os involves stripping the same from American Indians" (91). I would go a step further and argue that Ruiz de Burton’s description of the Californios as natives is an attempt to successfully play the victim, as evidenced by her use of sickness and injury throughout the book. It is well documented that disease was the most potent killer of the Native American population following European colonization of the Americas. And yet, despite clearly descending from Spanish aristocracy, Ruiz de Burton gives her characters sickly qualities while denouncing the corrupting squatter invaders.

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History is what we learn in school about the past, about people’s culture, their way of life, their beliefs, their fight and their dreams. However, history is not an absolute truth. In fact, every story has more than one version. The History of the native American in the United States still one of the most controversial subjects in history, not only because of all the ambiguity filled in the story, but also and more importantly because the it was written by only one side. Indeed, it was written by the winners, the invaders, and the dominants.

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After this vision he felt himself different from the others. Then in the following chapters a growing conflict appears between the white Americans and the Sioux. The Sioux suffered

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Writer Sherman Alexie has a knack of intertwining his own problematic biographical experience with his unique stories and no more than “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” demonstrates that. Alexie laced a story about an Indian man living in Spokane who reflects back on his struggles in life from a previous relationship, alcoholism, racism and even the isolation he’s dealt with by living off the reservation. Alexie has the ability to use symbolism throughout his tale by associating the title’s infamy of two different ethnic characters and interlinking it with the narrator experience between trying to fit into a more society apart from his own cultural background. However, within the words themselves, Alexie has created themes that surround despair around his character however he illuminates on resilience and alcoholism throughout this tale.

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His family made many strong efforts for True Son to adapt to white society, but True Son resisted and had difficulty finding a place where he felt he could belong. In both the Native American and white societies he was viewed by the people as an outsider. In the white society, they saw him as uncivilized because of his native upbringing, but still made the attempt to connect. In Native American society, they might see him as a traitor for simply returning to his white family, although he had no choice because of the agreement. True Son’s identity struggle becomes more complicated due to his interaction with the people around him.

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The book focuses on a young boy named Arnold Spirit who shows persistence and bravery as he defies all odds and strides towards a happier more successful life than his parents and ancestors before him. Arnold is a bright, inspiring young boy who grows up with little fortune and is destined to continue down the path of a poor, misunderstood Indian. However, his fate changes for the better when a spark lights the fire inside of him to strive to pursue a better, more flourishing life as he makes an extraordinary decision to transfer to an all-white school for a worthier education. However, the drastic change of schools puts a burden on his family to get him to school as well as leads to extreme bullying from not just kids at his new school but also from his fellow Indians in his hometown. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I learned that it doesn 't matter what your situation is and what you are expected to accomplish in your lifetime or what standards have already been set for you because you can be whoever you want to be with hard work, ambition, and confidence.

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People are trying to get this book banned due to the innapropiate topic used in this book. Most people dont read this book and just make up thing that this book should be banned for. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part- Time Indian should be banned becase of the use of race, sex, and alcahol. Many people want to ban this book due to the use of race in the book. Many of the white kid that go to school with Arnold make racis comment about him being indian.

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In his book the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie portrays a teenage boy, Arnold Spirit (junior) living in white man’s world, and he must struggle to overcome racism and stereotypes if he must achieve his dreams. In the book, Junior faces a myriad of misfortunes at his former school in ‘the rez’ (reservation), which occurs as he struggles to escape from racial and stereotypical expectations about Indians. For Junior he must weigh between accepting what is expected of him as an Indian or fight against those forces and proof his peers and teachers wrong. Therefore, from the time Junior is in school at reservation up to the time he decides to attend a neighboring school in Rearden, we see a teenager who is facing tough consequences for attempting to go against the racial stereotypes.

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I read books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open… I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life.” Being like Sherman Alexie meant he was neither accepted as a smart non-Indian boy, nor was he accepted as a dumb Indian boy. He was lost in the shadows, to never be welcomed into either group. Which in his case was a good thing, there in the shadows he had even more time to gain intelligence, he could read and increase his likelihood of forcing open the cement door that stood in his way.

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Being a writer of many different styles, Sherman Alexie started off as a poet before writing novels and short stories. His poetic manner continues in the story “Indian Education”. He has a wide array of dry statements mixed with metaphors and statements that are not meant to be taken literally. The trend for each years is that he starts off dry and literal and ends poetic and metaphorical. His description of his interactions with the “white girl” in seventh grade is a great example.

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In Sherman Alexie’s short stories (and poems), there usually three central themes that the story rotates. In this paper, I will be exploring how he (Alexie) explores the themes losing culture, a cycle of regret, and using drugs (mainly alcohol) to escape. In Indian Education, the short story, Alexie seems to show that whenever young Victor tries to express himself through his culture, he is punished. Take the section “First Grade” for example. In first grade, Junior (the main character and narrator) says that “The little warrior in me roared to life that day..” and makes comparisons to traditional Native American warriors, such as describing the brusies on the other boy’s face as “war paint” or how Junior chants “it’s a good day to die”, which is phrase typically associated with Crazy Horse, who was a Native American chief.

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They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers, for volunteers, for help.” Since Alexie’s dad gave him that first step with his love of books, he wanted him and others to learn. To Sherman, ignorance was death. He wanted to save them and prove to them that Indians can be smart; he wanted him to not listen to the others and believe, as he did that, they are smart, they are arrogant, and they are lucky. This is what the story is about and why the quote is so

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Despite the negative stereotype of American Indians, the objections and disapproval of fellow Natives, and the criticism of others, Sherman Alexie went on to become a successful writer that has inspired many. Alexie overcame many obstacles that would have deterred him from his goal, but he was able to remain steadfast and continue on in his pursuit of writing. As a result, he has published many literary works that include several short stories, poems, and a variety of novels. He allows his culture to seep into his writing, and continues to inspire young American Indians who also desire the path of knowledge.

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