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Character Analysis Of Junior In The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

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Recommended: Native american literature

Throughout his journeys from his poor Indian reservation to a neighboring all-white school, Arnold Spirit, the main character in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, learns various life lesson; Junior’s experiences on and off the reservation positively impact his life and help him understand that he shouldn’t be afraid to be different, don’t lose hope or he won’t succeed, and to follow his dreams, even if others disagree. One of the life lessons Junior learned throughout his experiences was don’t be afraid to be different. In the chapter ‘Dance, Dance Dance’ Junior has to wear his Dad’s old suit to the school dance. He believed everyone would make fun of him for being different. After everyone compliments his suit, he realizes it is okay to be different. Another example of this lesson is when Junior goes to Reardon, knowing he is going to be the only Indian there. Junior knows he will be the only non-white student at reardon, yet he goes anyway. Even though he has to deal with being picked on, and standing out, he learns to cope with it. In conclusion, Junior is not afraid to be different, since he has had a lot of experience as always being different in his life. …show more content…

One example of this is when Junior’s teacher tells him not to lose hope. Junior’s teacher is the one that teaches him this lesson. He explains how, if he loses hope; he will be stuck in a cycle like the rest of his family. This influences Junior to go to rearden, so that he doesn’t lose hope in the reservation. Junior knows that everyone in the reservation lacks hope, that is why they are stuck in a cycle. 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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The differences didn't stop junior he continued to fight on despite the glares and judgments he received from others. Junior kept his head held high and kept fighting on and following his dreams. Although not everything was fixed, he also went through an emotional crisis. A few of his family members passed away and this brought him down, he was so depressed he was contemplating to give away everything he had earned. But a voice in the back of his head insisted that he didn't.

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They also discuss how things are difficult on the rez now that Junior is going to school in Reardan. Junior discusses things of importance all the time so he is not conforming to rule three of the Code of Conduct.

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As Junior matures he realizes that he has many obstacles within his life, like the fact that he lives in poverty, a lot of people show racism towards him and his people, and the death of family members and

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I was lucky.” (Alexie, p. 585) Alexie wanted more for himself and didn’t want to be labelled as a dumb Indian, like everyone expected him to be. He wanted to learn and didn’t care if he had to fight his classmates every day. Another thing to take in this essay is, Alexie love for his Father. Alexie Father was a positive role model for him, and that made him want to be just like his Father.

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Have you ever lost someone you loved or was important in your life? Well Junior has, he has lost many people in his life. He has gone to a total of 42 funerals in his lifetime and he is only 14. You will find out more about Junior in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Most of the people Junior has lost were due to alcohol.

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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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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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Junior’s father’s drinking problems and the lack of funds to afford decent living conditions on the reservation are prevalent issues throughout the book that provide an insight into this theme. This proves that the author has written this novel to exhibit the hardships of those in poverty are detrimental to a child’s future. First, the novel shows the hardships of poverty by showing the discrimination made against Junior. On page 86, Junior states he “remembered when I [he] used to be a human being,” (Alexie 86).

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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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Then, he later realized that he “ had challenged the alpha dog and was now being rewarded for it.” This evidence implies that Junior’s experience of being bullied by Roger triggered him to stand up for himself. His hope and perseverance while standing up for himself and others, led to a greater outcome. Now, Junior was being respected as a result of him having hope and standing up himself; he was

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He knows that if his parents were not born into poverty, his mother would have gone to college, and his father would have become a musician. Additionally, on page eleven Junior says that his parents “dreamed about being something other than poor, but they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams.” Junior believes that he is trapped in this “circle” of poverty, and his dreams will be ignored just as his parents’ dreams had been. However, after Junior launches an old geometry book across a classroom, and it hits his teacher, Mr. P, in the face, Mr. P realizes something substantial about Junior: He has fought since his birth, beginning with the

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He does this by not telling anyone he poor and about his struggles to get to and from school. Even though Junior begins being isolated from everyone when he starts Reardan he eventually is accepted and loved by his

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What would you do if you where part of the “Black Eye of the Month Club?” How would you feel if you where called names constantly and made fun of your physical features? This is what Junior has to go though every day on the reservation and at school. How does he handle all of this criticism? He draws comics about his daily experiences.

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