In life you have many choices. One of which is deciding whether or not you are going to succeed or fail in life. In other words, choosing to stay hopeful or not. In the “Absolute True Diary of a Part- Time Indian” Junior goes through many situations where hope is needed. The author Sherman Alexie puts Junior as well as other characters in situations to make those hard decisions.
In this document, James Henry Gooding writes a letter to President Abraham Lincoln in September of 1863, with a complaint regarding his mistreatment and low pay as a soldier. Gooding, as well as his fellow soldiers, believe that they are being underpaid for the work that they are doing, but he first asks forgiveness for addressing the President. “… But the earnest solicitation of my comrades in arms besides the genuine interest felt by myself in the matter is my excuse, for placing before the Executive Head of the Nation our Common Grievance” (Gooding, 221). He continues by explaining that on the 6th of August, a man from the Department of Payment was sent to inform the soldiers that he would pay them $10 per month, but everyone in the regiment knew that he would never keep his word.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, is a semi-biographical book about an Indian boy named Arnold. Arnold lives on an Indian reservation but, he attends school off the reservation in a town where the population is majority white people. Throughout the entire book you can see how Arnold internal struggles and the struggles he was with “white power”. An example would be the title of the book, the “Part-Time Indian “part especially stand outs because, it helps illustrate Arnold struggles with his personal life and with “white power”. The title illustrates with by helping express Arnolds struggles to fit in, his home life, and finding himself.
As bullying becomes worse and many people don’t take it seriously, I believe more people need to understand how bad bullying is for someone. Bullying can take a toll on someone. Bullying can also have a long-term effect on a person’s health. As in the novel, The Absolute True Diary As A Part-Time Indian, bullying is a main focus in literature just like in real life. The novel shows interactions between a kid named Junior and how he deals with bullying as a Native American.
Arnold’s journey to the off-reservation school, Reardan would’ve been very different without friendships with his lifelong friend Rowdy, and his new friends at Reardan, the sweet Penelope, ex-bully Roger, and nerdy Gordy. In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, author Sherman Alexie shows different aspects of friendship by putting Arnold in situations that have him trust in others, show independence, and teach him to not judge people based on first impressions alone. Arnold’s friends are his best secret-keepers, and he keeps their secrets, too, helping him establish trust in his relationships. When Arnold witnesses his crush, and the most popular girl in school, Penelope, throwing up in the bathroom, he keeps her secret. When they were younger, and Arnold told Rowdy about his childhood crush, Rowdy thought he was ridiculous, but,“...
Junior Learns Life Lessons Everyone goes through tough times in life, and you need someone there for you. In the book, Junior and Rowdy experience this several times throughout the story. The book was called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian which was written by Sherman Alexie. The main characters in this book were Junior, Rowdy, and Rogers.
In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, there is a theme of Arnold grappling with his racial identity. He goes to a “white” school, but he lives on a Native American reservation, so there is conflict between both races for him. Although he often voices his negative feelings about being Native American, deep down Arnold loves being Native American, because he knows it’s not the only thing that defines him, he loves the togetherness of his tribe, and his struggles as a Native American have made him stronger. Arnold knows that being Native American isn’t the only thing that determines his life.
“ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a novel about an Indian boy’s daily life after he transfer white people school from Indian rez. In the novel “ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, there are some differences between Wellpinit and Reardon, and these things influence the character Junior. These two school are different in race, Wellpinit has different rules in students’ mind about solving problem, and the teacher in Wellpinit is also different from the teacher in Reardon. More over, Wellpinit has low level literacy, students in Wellpinit is not good at sport, but Reardon is very well, and the gap between rich and poor is also the difference between Reardon and Wellpinit. Caused by these difference, character Junior grow up a lot.
The Importance of Self Discovery Through Creative Mediums On Indian Reservations, less than 10% of Indians graduate college after high school (American Addiction Center). The rest of the Indians that stay on the reservation have an increased risk of obesity, suicide, cancer, strokes, diabetes, and teen pregnancy. The main cause of this is the prevalent alcoholism that suffocates many Indians. In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold Spirit Jr. uses storytelling and comics to cope with the constant alcoholism and death. Without using them as a way to cope, it’s very likely he would turn to abuse, alcoholism, and mental illness.
“In the middle of a crazy drunk life, you have to hang on the good and sober moments tightly.” (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie page 216) This is a quote from the book that shows how Junior learns how to appreciate the good moments in life. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie the character Junior faces problems caused by drinking. The book starts off with his family living on the Indian reservation suffering from poverty and death.
In society, people judge each other with stereotypes based on their looks, religion, and their way of life. People who show compassion to others help them understand that being different is something special and nothing to hide from. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Native Americans are stereotyped as not successful and poor, but Junior determines that he is special and worth knowing, unlike other Native Americans. Without the courage from Mr.P, Junior would end up like his sister, Mary, doing nothing in life but staying in the basement all day. Junior’s parents support his decision with transferring schools, but Rowdy, his best friend, believes he is making the wrong choice by leaving the rez, so he turns
Throughout the course of history, Native Americans have been not been treated fairly by the U.S. government. According to the documentary, Hidden America, Diane Sawyer states that the poorest population is the Indian Reservation from South Dakota named Pine Ridge. At this reservation, the majority of the Indians rely on the government for money and commodities. Commodities are the food promised by the US government after the US seized 7.3 millions acres of Lakota land. With this land, the government slayed sixteen million buffalo in just fifty years.
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).
ANELISWA NALA 2015317601 ENGL1624 DUE: 28 OCTOBER 2016 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has one mutual theme that associates all the other themes in the novel together. In the chapter titled; “Valentine Heart,” we encompass the most prominent and most cognisant theme of them all- grief. This chapter conveys the most detectable attributes of grief that functions as both an individual and collective process of dealing with loss. Argumentatively one could say that grieving has its fair share of adversities.
There are main themes in every novel some may be obvious while some require research and analysis to find. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, there are many themes such as bullying, racism, drug abuse and alcoholism. Though only a few of those apply directly to Junior, the protagonist, there is one that he is affected by more than any other. This one is isolation.
