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The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

1264 Words6 Pages

Austin Jehle
Ms. Mulvaney
ELA 4
10 January 2023
Analysis Essay
Depending on how an author goes about writing a story it can develop their themes in different ways based on the interactions of their characters and the conflicts that they have along the way. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie one of the many themes that are developed in the story is Hope. The theme of hope plays a big part in the story since Junior, who is the main character, is constantly moving forward in order to find hope in spite of his bleak circumstances. Throughout the novel the themes Hope and dreams are developed by the multiple conflicts that Junior is faced with on the reservation and at Reardan.
The first time the theme Hope was …show more content…

When Junior decides to go to Reardan to get a better education thanks to the talk that he and Mr.P had, he decides to tell his best friend Rowdy. Which does not end their friendship, since Rowdy feels like Junior decides to abandon him. When he tells Rowdy that he plans on leaving Rowdy yells “You always thought you were better than me”(Alexie,52). So while Junior was trying to leave to follow his dreams and get a better education. Rowdy thought he was leaving because Junior thought he was better than him and was trying to get rid of him. On one hand Junior had the dream of getting a better life by going to Reardan and on the other he had the hope that He and Rowdy would be best friends forever. Life is full of decisions and sometimes when you choose to do something for a dream you might end up losing hope and vice versa. Overall life is a delicate balancing act where the weight of a choice can only be felt once you take it, which could tip the scale in an unfortunate way. And that is what happened to Junior when he thought “I had to stand eventually, and when I did, I knew that my best friend had become my worst enemy”(Alexie,53). Some hopes and dreams come true while others are not as fortunate and then they either die of or get replaced by new …show more content…

Now some people might see that and then say what's the point then of having them. The point to having those hopes and dreams is that it gives something for you to strive for , something that gives you a direction to follow in this chaotic world. Take Junior's dream of becoming a famous cartoonist as an example, while he may or may not achieve this goal, it gave him a direction to start in. If he did not have this aspiration to better his life and chase a goal of becoming a cartoonist He never would have left the reservation which has caused him so much pain and suffering . Junior says “I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats”(Alexie). That is where the dream of becoming a cartoonist started for Junior. Since he uses cartoons to express and quell his anger and other emotions that he faces on a daily basis. Every single one of your hopes and dreams will evolve and change through your lives. Some might not lead you to what you thought you wanted, but instead down a different path that leads you to a new hope or dream. Others might lead directly to your hope or they might even just dissipate overtime and nothing becomes of it. In Junior's story we never learn if he does become a famous cartoonist, what we do know is that dream has not changed through the story and it has

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