Essay On The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

Isabella Haddad

Mr. Rodriguez

Academic Lit.

21 April 2023

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Analytical Essay There are many different instances when one wants to give up, but they keep pushing for the benefit of themselves. The YA novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie and illustrated by Ellen Forney, takes place on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The YA novel, shows different struggles between parent-child relationships, living in poverty, and issues in friendships. Through the characters Junior, Rowdy, Mary, and the character’s parents, Alexie’s readers see that there were many troubles being experienced, but they “always stayed tough even when times got rough”. In this novel,

Although she’s always had this dream, she never fulfilled it due to getting married, moving states, and being discouraged. Mary was not thinking about writing anymore, but Junior found out and didn’t like that she was giving up. He said that she still has time to write a book if she wanted. In the novel, Alexie writes, “‘She could still write a book,’ I said. “There’s always time to change your life,’” (Alexie 40). Junior is saying how “there’s always time to change your life”. He is saying how there’s always a chance to write the book that she’s always wanted to write. Soonly after Mary moved, she tried getting a job but she wasn’t able to get any due to not having work experience. This gave her the chance she’s been waiting for. The chance to begin writing her book. In the novel, Mary writes to Junior, “I am still looking for a job. They keep telling me I don’t have enough experience. But how can I get experience if they don’t give me a chance to get experience? Oh, well. I have a lot of free time, so I have started to write my life story,” (Alexie 133). Mary was struggling to find a job, but she was also making use of the time that she had to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a writer, and she’s using her eventful life story to do it. This proves that even through looking for a job and struggling, Mary uses her time to actually do what wants. She is staying tough, even when she is dealing with

When Oscar, Juniors dog, got really sick, Arnold put Junior in a horrible position. He told him to take Oscar outside so he can shoot him and put him out of pain. This can cause major trauma towards Junior bceuase Oscar, had always been one of Juniors prised possessions. In the novel, Arnold, Junior’s dad, stated, “‘Junior,” he said. “Carry Oscar outside.’ ‘No!’ I screamed. ‘He’s suffering,’ Dad said. ‘We have to help him.’ ‘You can’t do it!’ I shouted.I wanted to punch my dad in the face. I wanted to punch him in the nose and make him bleed. I wanted to punch him in the eye and make him blind. I wanted to kick him in the balls and make him pass out. I was hot mad. Volcano mad. Tsunami mad,” (Alexie 11). Junior’s dad found the family dog Oscar in pain and decided that it was time to let him rest, but he gave that responsibility to Junior. He wanted him to take him out and basically lay him on his death bed. This was not an easy thing for Junior. Another instance where Juniors parents have put a sort of negative pressure on him is when they wouldn’t show up to pick him up from school, or their irresponsible-ness led them to no gas which meant the couldn’t pick him up or drop him off. In the novel, Junior narrates, “Then I went into the bedroom and asked Mom and Dad if they were driving me to school. ‘Don’t have enough gas,’ Dad said and went back to sleep. Great,