Symbolism In The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

Symbols may represent many things in life, including themes, social issues, and traits of a person. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character, Arnold Spirit faces a variety of social issues. The social issues ranging from racism to alcohol abuse and addiction. These issues indirectly and directly affect Arnold, some motivate him to travel 22 miles daily for a better education and others affect his relationship with people.

Poverty one of the main social issues. If the reservation wasn’t as poor and run down then the Spokane might have had more opportunities to succeed in life. The living conditions of the reservation were less than optimal A symbol that could represent poverty would be a penny, this represents the meager amount of money Arnold’s family had.

Arnold's dad was an alcohol addict and would frequently disappear with all of the family's money and return days later with all of it spent. Other alcohol addicts also affect Arnold because the Andruss triplets had beaten him up at the annual powwow. A symbol which represents this would be alcohol bottles. Most people would think of bottles when it comes to alcohol abuse and addiction. Another symbol would be a butterfly because it shows how alcohol stands out to addicts as a solution to their problems and that it only stays for so long until it's gone. A third social issue would be social acceptance. Arnold is the only Indian beside the school mascot at Reardan feels out of context in a predominantly white school. Arnold also feels out of context on the reservation, he feels as if he is the only one who wants to leave the reservation and never come back. This makes him feel like an alien in both of the worlds he lives in. A symbol for this would be a UFO, this would show how Arnold is waiting for something to take him away to somewhere he belongs and could fit