Expansion Of Junior Adams's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior Adams’s expansion of his own reality has made him aware of other things and has allowed him to find joy in unlikely experiences from those he’s known. From the title onwards, Junior makes it very clear that he himself is a Native American. He indicates how he has spent his entire life on the reservation. He lives on in northwestern Washington, and he mentions how he has never been far from it; he has only been to Spokane. When reminiscing about where he could be, he mentions how “I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation” (Alexie 7). Like many others on

Reardan High School is a much nicer school outside of the Spokane Reservation; Junior was amazed because it had a science lab and a gym. However, with great power comes great responsibility, as Junior was mercilessly bullied for a duration of time. He made friends, though, and realized an important fact: “...sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms” (Alexie 217). Although Junior is a Spokane Indian, he realizes that he cannot allow himself and others to label himself as one specific thing; he, like everyone else, is unique and special. If he convinces himself that he is simply Indian and nothing else, then he condemns himself to a life of monotony and a lack of idealism. However, his experience at Reardan has changed that. It may have been difficult at first, but Junior has finally seen something different, which proves to him that not everything is the same; there is something that is unique in everyone, no matter who they may be. As a result, Junior is more comfortable in his own skin and with others; he treats them with much more respect and is more gracious. At the beginning of the novel, he may have been throwing a geometry book at a teacher, but by the end, he is voicing his own opinions and sharing his thoughts. Even though Junior has made some startling advancements, he has not changed in some regards; he can still hold a grudge like no other, and has not truly forgiven some characters in the novel. He still considers many of his white classmates to have personally brought his problems on him. All in all, though, Junior has proven to develop into an extremely dynamic character who has learned from his mistakes and has made advances