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

805 Words4 Pages

Family dynamics are one of the most important parts of a story, and the life of Arnold Spirit Jr. is the most interesting and heartbreaking story to learn about. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about a 14-year-old Indian boy, Junior, who experiences violence, gangs, and alcoholism. His father, Arnold Spirit, copes with stress by drinking alcohol. His family has a huge impact on his life, and he experiences alcoholism and violence at a very young age. Junior was a normal boy when he lived in the rez, but when he moved to Rearden, people saw him as a poor kid. He wore older clothes, had a garbage bag as a backpack, and wore older, torn-up shoes, but the kids at Rearden were rich. They had backpacks, new designer clothes, and shoes. …show more content…

Junior’s father spends all the money that they receive on alcohol. Junior's father wanted to be a musician, but he struggled with addiction and poverty. “I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation.” (Alexie 7). So with Junior's parents being poor, he knows they will try their best to give him as much as he needs. Junior parents are considered “terrible” parents in Rearden, and everyone else has “wonderful” parents because they are rich and they aren't alcoholics. Junior's mother was a recovering alcoholic and asked Junior to make a promise to her. Junior makes a promise to his mother to never drink alcohol. Junior believes that his father is an amazing father; he just makes horrible decisions, enjoys drinking alcohol. Junior's father is gone from Christmas to January 2nd. When he came back, he was horribly hungover and spent all the money he had saved on

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