This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself. At first Junior didn't like himself; he was constantly beaten up, he had a lisp and stuttered so he had no self-confidence. When he made the decision to go to Reardan, a white school, even Rowdy left him. Rowdy thought Junior was betraying their school by going away and transferring so Rowdy didn't talk to Junior anymore. Without his best friend, Junior completely lost hope. He was scared of the white people and did not expect them to welcome him. He was right. Most of the Americans were cold to him and he did not try to raise his status. Many of the white people made fun of him, and when one guy, Roger, said "Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers f*** buffalo?" (pg. 64) he felt that he had to stop it. So he punched him. Junior was expecting to get punched back, but he didn't. In the Indian Reservation, he
Do you think looking forward and trying to change a bad situation into a good one for having a better life is a wrong decision? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel is about Arnold Spirit; everyone calls him Junior. He is a teenage boy with a tough life who lives with his family in poverty on a Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He hates living in poverty and wants something better for himself. “I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important. An artist”(6) he claims. His living conditions are horrible; he studies in a school with a lack of resources. He considered the different aspects of moving to Reardan, he struggled about leaving
Synopsis: In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie explores this concept by following the life of adolescent Native American boy named Junior and his struggle to find his identity. The novel explores Junior’s life on a Spokane reservation in Eastern Washington and how his transition to a predominantly white high school drastically alters his reality. Throughout the novel, Junior faces the obstacles that become evident as a result of his decision while grappling with the conflicts of teenage life and what it means to be an Indian in the United States.
Adversity means hardship or misfortune. Many of the reservation Indians faced a lot of adversity by Alcohol abuse, lack of money, hard time finding jobs , also the people give up easily. Junior faces adversity by family death, and losing his best friend. In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indians” By Sherman Alexie. Unlike everyone else on the rez Junior had determination and a view of the world beyond the Rez.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian tells the story of a Spokane Indian teenager who is born with disabilities into a community of poverty. He decides to leave his home reservation to go to another school in the white community. There, he experiences racism and other challenges. Throughout the story, he is affected by poverty, loss, hunger, and racism, all part of Author Sherman Alexie’s message that survival techniques are needed to exist in two worlds. Alexie uses conflict, cartoons by Ellen Forney, and symbolism to convince the audience to care about his message about poverty, loss, and racism.
In “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie tells the authors story, represented by the main character Junior. The main character is referred to by many names throughout the book. The author focuses on how extremely poor, and the strict line between the “whites” and the “indians”. Most struggle with finding their “identity”. A concept that Junior faces throughout the book. There is a lot of loss, and death throughout the book, yet it is categorized as a story full of joy and hope.
After his transformation to Reardon, Junior became more social and comes out of his comfort zone and gains a lot of friends who care about him and even became more brave. On Junior’s first day there was kids who were looking at him strange as if they’ve never seen a Indian before. A bully named Roger came up to Junior with racist comments. “Did you know that indians are living proof that n****ers are the living proof f*** buffalo.” (64). Junior was used to getting bullied and normally wouldn’t self defend himself but those comments triggered him and punched Roger in the face. After he punched Roger in the face, the friend’s of Roger we’re shocked and Junior felt brave. “I felt all of a sudden brave” (65). Junior met a girl that he thought was so beautiful but when he tried talking to her she seemed to have no interest but that did not stop Junior from trying, Her name was Penelope and they later on became
A maxim is a general truth or rule of conduct. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is filled with Maxims. From classics maxims about perception to more serious maxims about leaving your birthplace for opportunity and hope. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior experiences much change in his life. He decides to transfer to a predominantly white farm school from the rez school. But, the rez was not happy with him transferring. In the process, he loses his best friend and family members. Junior learns many things about himself and how to lead himself through life. Throughout this essay, a few maxims will be highlighted that exemplify the lessons that Junior learns and the relation of his experiences to my own life. Throughout The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior teaches us and himself about Maxims and their life long value.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live on an Indian reservation? Well in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie you can begin to see and know what it is like. This novel focuses around the life of a boy named junior who struggles with fitting in anywhere, on the rez, or in the white school he goes to. You can see his struggle with connecting to his family and people off the rez in this book. In this journal, I will be questioning why Junior goes to a new school, predicting that he will become friends with Rowdy again, and connecting Junior to a candle. First, I will be questioning why Junior decides to start going to school off the reservation. I think the reasoning is because he is fed up with the way
In a novel by Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, important issues are brought to light, such as poverty, racism, alienation, and more, with little to no sugar coating. It is a one of a kind novel due to the vivid descriptions and sense of humor that give a first-person perspective on the life of a teenage Indian struggling through life and pushing past all odds in search of success. This book focuses on a small isolated reservation in Wellpinit Washington. As it brings to light the issues that these isolated reservations face when it comes to economics and healthcare. This story may focus on one person and tribe but it depicts issues that have arisen due to the wrongdoings that all Native American tribes suffered through because of the United States government.
Junior has a very high self-esteem; when he has his arguments with his teachers it shows his self-esteem, "Well, petrified wood is really not wood." He knew he was right about this information and no matter what he was going to prove it, and as he did. This shows Junior 's self-esteem as well as formed an identity for him. Identity as an Indian, but that of a confident smart boy. This quote yet so simple but shows us the most valued lesson be confident in yourself, if you truly believe you are right then there is nothing that can prove you wrong.
The novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," by Sherman Alexie, is a tale about a hopeful 14-year-old boy named Arnold Spirit, also known as Junior, and the challenges that he faces being a poverty-stricken Spokane Native American Indian in a "white" man's world. Throughout the novel, Junior endures numerous obstacles and hardships; despite all of his adversities, he was determined to make a better life for himself and decided to go to a predominately white school away from his Indian reservation, where he had lived all of his life. Unfortunately, Junior did experience several problems relating to his cultural identity, some he faced while he was at his new school, others were on his Indian reservation, even though these obstacles temporally held him back he was able to overcome them.
Juniors way of coping with harsh reality In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the character Junior faces a lot of racism and poverty. Not only is Junior unpopular and alienated, but the victim of taunts and bullying as well. Poverty is shown prevalently throughout the novel through how Arnold lives on a day to day basis. Though to cope with these issues he draws and writes and tries to overcome them.
Moved around year after year, from school-to-school, city-to-city, for 7 years straight. A different school, a different sense of feeling lost, and a different identity. Like Arnold from Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I’ve dealt with having to choose who I wanted to be at each school. This experience makes me most like the narrator of the novel.
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the author, Sherman Alexie, propounded the theme of friendship, asserting that without friends, one would only endure a long-lasting sense of loneliness. In the Spokane community, Arnold Spirit Jr. shared his childhood mostly with Rowdy, thus Junior simply had one friend. However, as he transferred to the all-white Reardan High School, to acquire more decent education, Junior faced many challenges. By leaving his friend behind, Rowdy felt betrayed, and their friendship temporarily disintegrated. As a “part-time” Native American, Junior experienced an identity crisis and propelled between being “red” and “white”. Nonetheless, he obtained
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit makes the tough decision to stop attending Wellpinit High School. Arnold was raised around reservation kids all his life and isn’t familiar with the norms of other groups of people. In some ways I relate to the challenges Arnold experienced when he moved to Reardan. In the novel, Alexie proves Arnold is better off in Reardan because they value the education of their students more than Wellpinit.