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

1298 Words6 Pages

Leaving a place that has been home for a long time is tough, but sometimes it is the right choice. In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the narrator, Arnold, went to school at Wellpinit, which was in the Indian Reservation where he grew up. Unfortunately, this was an area of great despair and in order to try and make something of himself, he needed to go to school outside of the reservation. He started school at Rearden, which was an all-white school, making it difficult for him to fit in since he was the only Indian. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman, Alexie Arnold has the right to leave the reservation to seek better opportunities and have a better education that can help him …show more content…

When Arnold transferred to his new school, it was difficult to make friends. It is already a challenge to make new friends when moving to a new school, especially for Arnold. When he opened up more to the people around him, he ended up making new friends that helped him through school. On the reservation, Arnold only had one friend, his best friend, Rowdy. He didn’t need any other friends because Rowdy was enough for Arnold. When Arnold moved to a new school, he got into a fight with Rowdy because Rowdy did not want Arnold to leave him at the reservation. He had to make friends on his own since he was the only Indian at an all-white school. After Arnold confessed to his friends at Rearden that he was poor they were so nice, “And Roger, being of kind of heart and generous pocket, and a little bit racist, drove me home that night. And he drove me home plenty of other nights, too. If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing” (Alexie 129). Arnold made multiple new friends at Rearden. He never really let others into his life besides

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In Sherman Alexie’s story “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Arnold has many odds stacked against him having a successful experience when transferring to Reardan high school. Despite being quite smart, he is not taken seriously when sharing his knowledge because of his race. After being humiliated by his new science teacher Mr.Dodge in class, Arnold thinks to himself, “I remember when people used to think I was smart” (Alexie p.86). Another factor that made his transfer harder was his speech impediments. Arnold suffers from a lisp and a stutter and was often bullied for them back at his old school.

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