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

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Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian (2007, pp. 12-13)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is light hearted, very enjoyable and an authentic coming of-age-story. Sherman’s fresh and engaging style of writing is very lively and exuberant (Shmoop, 2014). The young-adult novel is written in the first person narrative perspective of Arnold Spirit Jr, who is a fourteen-year-old boy with a passion to draw cartoons (Noone. K, 2010). Arnold, detailing his life and the decisions he makes, writes the novel in the first person format. The novel explores various themes such as, identity, race, poverty, hopes, dreams and plans. The protagonist in this novel has a unique sense of humor.

Alexie shows in his novel that there are many struggles facing Indians adapting into new communities. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian explores the theme of poverty, which is one of the most compelling aspects (Shmoop, 2014) of the novel. “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are” (Alexie. S, 2007, p.13) Alexie, through emotive language conveys to the audience how devastating and unfortunate poverty is not only to ones self, but for an entire community. Alexie positions the reader to be confronted by the poverty faced by his family that is a never-ending cycle (Noone. K, 2010), A vivid example of this is when his childhood dog Oscar, “the only living thing he could depend on”(Alexie. S, 2007, p.9) becomes very ill, and being in the circumstance of poverty his family cannot afford proper treatment, so Arnolds father shoots the dog to relieve him of his pain. “It sucks to be poor and it sucks to feel that you someho...

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...s case in the referendum to achieve equal rights for Aboriginal citizens. These issues that have risen from the 1967 referendum are still very prominent in todays society. ‘Writing for children is usually purposeful, its intention being to foster in the child reader a positive apperception of some socio-cultural values which, it is assumed, are shared by author and audience. These values include contemporary morality and ethics; a sense of what is valuable in the culture’s past (what a particular contemporary social formation regards as the culture’s centrally important traditions), and aspirations about the present and future. (Stephens, 1992, Language and Ideology, p. 3), furthermore, Frankland’s novel is a basic piece of literature for young children to gather an understanding of indigenous and Australian culture.

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