The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

At some point in our lives, we all experience some type of trauma. Research shows that certain groups of people are more likely to endure trauma and that may lead to substance use for certain people. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior, is a 14 year old boy going into high school who experiences a lot of grief and is exposed to many people using and abusing substances and having addictions. Junior is a Native American (he calls himself an Indian) who was born and raised on a reservation named Spokane in Washington State. Junior lives in poverty and because of this, his father drinks, and not only does Junior’s father drink, everyone on the reservation drinks or has an addiction to some sort of

Junior knew that Rowdy was violent, and he knew that it was because Rowdy got beat up by his father constantly. Yet, Junior could never imagine that one day, Rowdy would beat him up. Rowdy even used to protect Junior from bullies, but now, Rowdy is the bully. This obviously was traumatic for Junior, his trust was broken, he felt betrayed, and Rowdy had been Junior’s only friend at the time, which he had just now lost. This isn’t the only trauma that Junior faces. In chapter 22 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior’s grandmother passed away. Junior and his grandma were very close to each other, so we can only assume how difficult her death was for Junior. On page 157 it states, “In fact, last week, she was walking back home from a mini powwow at the Spokane Tribal Community Center, when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver.” Junior took this death seriously. He was mad, which was normal, and was grieving heavily. Especially because his grandma didn’t die of old age, as she should’ve, she died of a drunk driver. Junior also was hurting because his grandmother had never taken a sip of alcohol, which made the