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Sherman Alexie: The Culture Of An American Indian

395 Words2 Pages
Junior is a young American Indian who had grown up on a reservation in the western United States. As he grew older, he realized that living on the reservation would lead him nowhere. His only chance of hope at a better life is to leave “the Rez”. Sherman Alexie perfectly captures the culture of an American Indian in his novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, by introducing white culture by sending Junior to Reardan High School. Junior’s experience in Reardan allows him to draw conclusions about his own culture and Alexie has surely done research on American Indian culture. Most American Indians in today’s society live in poverty. Their culture revolves around their unwillingness to change due to their harsh treatment through
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Analysis Of Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie

165 Words | 1 Pages

In Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, Alexie’s father’s love for books grew to make his self-love books ending up in Alexie teaching himself how to read. Alexie describes the stereotypes and what is expected of Indian children and how Indian children were expected to basically have no knowledge Many lived up to those expectations inside the classroom but invalidated them on the outside. While other children were doing this, Alexie’s father was one of the few Indians on the reservation who went to Catholic School on purpose and was also an devoted reader. Alexie grew up around books. His father had a strong love for books as he bought them by the pound from pawn shops, goodwill and the salvation army.

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Comparing The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven

571 Words | 3 Pages

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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A Brief Summary Of Reardan

792 Words | 4 Pages

To drive back and forth between two identities The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian has two main settings, the Pacific Northwest towns of Wellpinit and Reardan. The contrast of the two different settings, a poor Indian reservation on the one hand and a wealthy white community on the other, has a lot to say for the main character in the book, Arnold Spirit Jr. There can be a lot behind to main settings in a book, and that is what I am going to analyze in this essay.

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1353 Words | 6 Pages

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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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594 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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Themes In The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

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Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11).

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Part Time Indian Identity

1942 Words | 8 Pages

The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie retells the accounts of Junior’s coming of age. Many of his perspectives evolve in the novel including that of his reservation, Reardan and his identity. Throughout his journey he endures tough losses of loved ones but is supported by the love of his family and friends. His daunting pursuit of hope turns into much more as he discovers his true identity.

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Poverty In Native Americans Essay

638 Words | 3 Pages

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Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis

929 Words | 4 Pages

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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Indian Education Sherman Alexie Summary

490 Words | 2 Pages

Expectations often impose an inescapable reality. In the short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, Victor often struggles with Indian and American expectations during school. Alexie utilizes parallelism in the construction of each vignette, introducing a memoir of tension and concluding with a statement about Victor’s difficulties, to explore the conflict between cultures’ expectations and realities. Alexei initially uses parallelism to commence each vignette with cultural tension. In second grade, Victor undergoes a conflict with his missionary teacher, who coerced Victor into taking an advanced spelling test and cutting his braids.

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777 Words | 4 Pages

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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571 Words | 3 Pages

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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