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

Roxanne Nivicela

Mr. Rodriguez

Academic Literacy 21 April 2023 Analytical essay Does your social class define you? People will judge, but not all people are the same. In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the setting takes place on the Spokane Indian reservation near Wellpinit. The genre is young adult fiction. In the novel young adults come together and share their social classes. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the author Alexie portrays the damaging effects of poverty in the novel in a negative way. Since Junior recently moved to his new school Reardan he was suffering a ton of bullying due to the fact that he was a poor Indian

Roger finds Junior in the bathroom and says he supposes Junior is sick with love. “Junior says yes, but he also forgot his wallet. Roger tells him not to worry and lends him forty dollars on the spot,” (126). This explains how Roger has a soft spot for Junior since he would easily lend him money with no commentary. Later in the parking lot, Penelope asks Junior if he is poor. Willingly Junior confesses. Penelope had said that Roger was able to guess that Junior was poor but reassured Junior that they wouldn't discuss this with anyone. Later on, Junior had to walk home since his father was not able to pick him up. Junior waited for everyone to leave so he could start walking home. But a few seconds later Penople appears and asks Junior “Junior is your will really coming to pick you up? Junior says no, and Penelope cries at the thought of Junior walking home twenty miles at three a.m. in the cold. Penelope tells Roger that Junior has no ride, and Roger takes Junior home,” (Alexie, 129). Penelope and Roger are kind-hearted and no matter what they are always willing to help a friend in need no matter what their situation

Both in a positive and negative way. Penelope in this case dresses up as a homeless person for a protest of homeless people in this country. “I'm going to ask for a spare change tonight, instead of can't, and I'm going to give it all to the homeless,” (Alexie, 78). Meaning that Penelope isn’t just a rich white girl who doesn't care about the poor. She's someone who decided not to have fun on Halloween but instead to help out the poor people who are in need. All those “pretty, pretty, pretty white girls ignored me.”(Alexie, 63) The white girls felt so entitled, not to acknowledge someone of Junior’s social class. This shows the difference between the people you surround yourself with because, in this all-white school, he is not respected as a person, and is not even looked at. At his old school where there was more of his social class, he never experienced this personally, the lower class, isn't as entitled as the upper