Friends come and go, it’s the good ones that stay. In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time India” The author convey many themes but friendship is one of the biggest. Throughout the book, Junior the main character talks about his life and how friendship is very important to him. He learns to make new friends and understand to let go of some.
Junior was born with disabilities, because he had too much water in his brain. Doctors thought he wouldn’t survive the surgery but in fact he did he got lucky and lived. Junior loves to draw it’s his way of communicating with others. Juniors thinks that a picture can be understood by anyone because it has no words and only drawings. Junior has a best friend who he loves a lot and cares for
…show more content…
His first interaction with someone was this girl name Penelope their friendship started out awkward but ended up being great. Penelope is the prettiest girl in the school. Junior push hard to become friends with Penelope and even though he is not as cool as she is they still become friends. Junior would get bullied by these jogs who would always make fun of him and especially roger he was senior and one day junior showed him who he truly was and ended up getting the respect he deserve. Then came Gordy the genius of Reardan was the first person that became junior friend he is like rowdy but in his own unique way. Gordy is a geek and whenever junior ask for advice Gordy always searches his answer. Junior says Gordy and rowdy are almost alike but in their own way. Junior knew that Gordy wasn’t going to be his best friend because he even say it “And so we did become friends. Not the best of friends. Not like Rowdy and me. We didn’t share secrets. Or dreams” (Chapter 12). His first friend after he lost the one he cared so much …show more content…
When going into high school the same friends you have in freshmen year aren’t the same in senior year. Strong Friendship is always hard to get, I knew who my real friends were after every year in high school ended. By the end of my senior year I had almost all the same friends except for three or four. But there was this one girl who stayed and she been my best friend since then we have had tough time and we have broken up but we always come back to each other. During the break ups I never treated anybody special like I did with her somehow I knew she was going to come back. The theme was always in my life and it showed me that not all my good friends are going to stay but when you have a best friend they’re always going to be
First, Junior confronts the dreariness of the Wellpinit school system by deciding to transfer to the Reardan school system. Junior initiates this decision when he throws a book across the room upon discovering his mother’s name inscribed inside the cover. His outburst signifies Junior’s recognition of Wellpinit’s misery and desire to achieve. This ambition drives his decisions throughout the novel and defines his unique character. In addition, Junior discloses his decision to his parents with fearlessness and trepidation. Junior confesses, “I want to transfer schools... I want to transfer to Reardan” (Alexie 45). Junior’s bluntness highlights his fearless personality and validates his ability to confront his problems and tasks head-on. In complex situations, Junior possesses the skills to navigate his future. Finally, Junior’s ability to overcome problems appears in his ability to navigate his way to Reardan each day for school. With the uncertainty of gas money in his family, Junior often finds himself walking or hitchhiking to the school, however
This is not my first time meeting Junior; however, I would like to point out that before getting to know Junior, he was initially shy. It wasn’t until I had seen him four or five times that he made the connection that I was both the
Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a novel about Arnold Spirit (Junior), a boy from the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to attend high school outside the reservation in order to have a better future. During that first year at Reardan High School, Arnold has to find his place at his all-white school, cope with his best friend Rowdy and most of his tribe disowning him, and endure the deaths of his grandmother, his father’s best friend, and his sister. Alexie touches upon issues of identity, otherness, alcoholism, death, and poverty in order to stay true to his characters and the cultures within the story. Through the identification of the role of the self, identity, and social behavior within the book, the reader can understand Arnold’s story to a greater depth.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a humorous and intuitive novel written by Sherman Alexie. The reader gets an insight into the everyday life of a fourteen year old hydrocephalic Indian boy named Arnold Spirit, also referred to as Junior Spirit. He is living on the Spokane Indian reservation and is seen as an outcast by all the other Indians, due to his medical condition. Against all odds Arnold expands his hope, leaves his school on the reservation and faces new obstacles to obtain a more promising future at a school off the reservation. The novel is told through Arnold’s voice, thoughts, actions and experiences. Alexie incorporates one point of view, different themes and settings, such as poverty, friendship, Spokane and Reardan within Arnold’s journey to illustrate the different hardships he must overcome to gain a higher education.
“I’m never going to act like my mother!” These words are increasingly common and yet unavoidable. Why is it that as children, we are able to point out every flaw in our parents, but as we grow up, we recognize that we are repeating the same mistakes we observed? The answer is generational curses: un-cleansed iniquities that increase in strength from one generation to the next, affecting the members of that family and all who come into relationship with that family (Hickey 13). Marilyn Hickey, a Christian author, explains how this biblically rooted cycle is never ending when she says, “Each generation adds to the overall iniquity, further weakening the resistance of the next generation to sin” (21, 22). In other words, if your parents mess up you are now susceptible to making the same mistakes, and are most likely going to pass those mistakes to your children. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie shows the beauty of hope in the presence of a generational curse. Even though the elders are the ones who produce the curses, they are also the ones who attempt to break Junior from their bond forming mistakes. The curses that Arnold’s elders imprint on him lead him to break out of his cultural bonds and improve himself as a developing young man.
Identity. Social Injustice. Coming of age. Those are three out of several other themes that are touched on in The Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie.
Every day, people live their lives without deep thought about the health and wellness of their community. When faced with harsh living conditions or situations, it is easy to become stuck in a negative mentality which doesn’t allow room for positive thoughts in order to create positive change. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, it explores the areas and factors of public health that ordinary people may or may not be aware of. The main character in the story, Junior, says “There’s always time to change your life”, a statement that can be true for anyone who is still young, has a decent amount of support, and hope to pull them through tough situations.
Junior’s emotions are very fluctuant throughout the novel. These emotions can best be depicted from the drawings that he makes. Whether it be a cartoon or a realistic piece, Junior finds a way to sort of vent his feelings through his artwork. Often he will draw a cartoon to show how he gallantly dunked a basketball on his ex-best
Over the course of the past semester we have read several books about Native American’s and their culture. The two books I found to be the most interesting were Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. In each story we see a young person from a reservation dealing with their Native Identities, Love, Loss and everything in between. Both of these novels have their similarities and their differences, but I believe they both offer insight into Native American culture that would be hard to come across elsewhere.
When society sets groups of people apart it may seem like nothing can get better, however when a true effort is made anything is possible. Even when life can seem hopeless, if you set your mind to it and break barriers your life can change for the better. This is proven in both The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie as well as in the film Shrek. This is seen when characters break cultural barriers by leaving their homes, when despite what others say they form relationships with people from another race and when they don’t let their differences stand in the way from them making a change. Even though both Shrek and Arnold may seem very different they both stray from their normal ways of life and prove that even when
Junior continuously persists and tries to make amends with Rowdy in order to save his friendship. This contributes to Junior’s maturity because he learns to never give up on the people he loves and cares for about so easily. Even when Junior realizes that the cartoon he draws for Rowdy does not help him think of how good of a team they are, this does not stop Junior from being committed towards their friendship. As Junior leaves Rowdy’s house after handing the cartoon to Rowdy’s dad, Junior observes, “I stopped at the end of the driveway and looked back. I could see Rowdy in the window of his upstairs bedroom. He was holding my cartoon. He was watching me walk away. And I could see the sadness in his face. I just knew he missed me, too. I waved at him. He gave me the finger…. But then i realized that Rowdy may have flipped me off, but he hadn’t torn up my cartoon. As much as he hated me, he probably should have ripped it to pieces” (Alexie 103). When Junior realizes that Rowdy still respects and cares about Junior’s cartoons, Junior still has hope in their friendship. Junior’s dedication to their friendship helps him mature because his perseverance towards making amends with Rowdy helps him learn to be more understanding and empathetic. This helps him conquer any obstacle with more patience and sensitivity. Not only does he never give up on his friendship with Rowdy, but also with his dream of becoming a basketball
Most people would think different things about what the most important element of a book is. Either it be the character, setting, plot, theme, or another subject that they fancy. But the censorship is the thing that I like in the book, and by the form of censorship I mean more of the lack of. I remember growing up I was pretty sheltered. I didnt learn my first curse word until about fourth grade. And even growing up most people could relate to blocked tv shows, blocked websites, and other thing of the type. And eventually when we did learn about the world in all of its terrible glory we felt alone that what we learned wasn't the right way to think or to act. But if someone didnt have friends to relate with their feelings they might feel alone. So i feel this book could help people in that situation.
Have you ever wanted something really badly, but couldn’t afford it? This is a common occurrence, but what about food? Have you ever went to be hungry because you couldn’t afford to eat? Unfortunately, Junior, the main character in the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, felt exactly this way for food. Even though Junior didn’t have as many resources as the other “white kids,” he still chose to look at the positives. This novel shows that even in times of great hardship, people can still choose to have hope and look at the good in their lives.
Imagine walking 22 miles to school every single day. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book by Sherman Alexie following the life of Arnold, also known as Junior, and his struggles as a poor Native American boy going to a wealthy white school. Being poor throws challenges at Arnold in and outside of school, and he must hold onto hope, new friends, and perseverance to escape the cycle of poverty.