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Part-Time Indian Satire

1333 Words6 Pages

Racism, is there anything less funny or more controversial? The Absolute Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book by Sherman Alexie that tackles the everyday life of a child forced to deal with racism. This novel focuses on the life of Junior “Arnold '' Spirit, a poverty-stricken young Indian boy who was born with water on the brain. Junior was born on an Indian reservation (rez) in Wellpoint, Washington, USA. with his parents who are alcoholics and often violent, which was very common on the rez ss alcohol and drugs were used to forget the pain they faced every day. Because of all the hardships he faced on the rez, Junior decided to break the chain of alcohol and drug abuse and start a new life at Reardan High School. Reardan High School was …show more content…

Poverty is a very serious topic that millions of people all over the world are forced to deal with. However The Absolute Diary of a Part-Time Indian Junior makes the subject as a whole feel more light-hearted and not as serious. For example, he says, "Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” (13) Sherman Alexie uses deadpan/ understatement humor to make a light-hearted joke about growing up in poverty. Other figures speak about all the things being poor taught them but Junior states how being poor just teaches you what it feels like to be poor. By joking about this it takes a heavy, dark subject and makes it feel more “friendly and open”. Not only did Junior make jokes about growing up in poverty but so did other characters throughout the novel. Mr. Dodge, Juniors geology teacher, once said "'Okay Arnold,' Dodge said. 'Where did you learn this fact? On the reservation? Yes, we all know there is so much amazing science on the reservation.”(85), this quote was ironic because what Mr. Dodge's teacher was actually wrong and what Junior had learned was actually right. But because Junior grew up in poverty on the reservation their school did not have a lot of funding and therefore did not have the best teachers. Junior took this sarcastic insult and just laughed about it because he knew he was right. This quote also has a dramatic irony component because as the readers, it's known that Junior was actually right but once again because of where he came from he was looked down

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Junior played basketball at both schools, but he didn't think he was good enough to make varsity at Reardan. “I suppose it had something to do with confidence. I mean I’d always been the lowest Indian on the reservation totem pole - I wasn’t expected to be good so I won’t.

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