In Sherman Alexie’s narrative, “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian,” the struggles of race Arnold, the main character, endured lead him to have a sense of clarity on his position in this world, being a Native American. Arnold Junior experiences many a loss and torment of his peers. He also goes through may hardships because of the color of his skin. Hardship clarify someone’s position in this world, leading one to become wiser in their choices and actions. The theme is developed throughout the narrative by Arnold experiencing struggles of racism and poverty which is explained by what he learned and felt. Arnold has been discriminated against for his disability and his skin tone, which led him to having insecurities and feel …show more content…
He didn’t have enough respect to grow and appreciate himself. He expressed his insecurities by saying, “I was the only kid, white or Indian, who knew that Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities. And let me tell you, we Indians were the worst of times and those Reardan kids were the best of times. Those kids were magnificent. They knew everything. And they were beautiful. They were beautiful and smart. They were beautiful and smart and epic. They were filled with hope” (7). Arnold wasn’t feeling as if he belonged in his school because of his extreme comparison between the Indians and the white children of Rearden. By adding a different adjective to describe them, Arnold reveals that he feels as if he is at a disadvantage if competing with his peers. In Alexie’s reference to Charles Dickens’ book, “A Tale of Two Cities,” the book compares the two cities of London and Paris during the French Revolution. Arnold makes a connection, using London as Wellpinit, his old home, and Paris as Rearden. He explains Paris, or in this case, Rearden, as the right way of life, attacking the London or Wellpinit way of life. Arnold faced many depressing experiences when faced with the challenges of not fitting
Encountering struggles in life defines one’s character and speaks volumes about their strength, ambition, and flexibility. Through struggles, sacrifice, and tragedy, Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, adapts to survive difficult situations and faces his problems head-on. As he makes life changing decisions, adapts to an unfamiliar culture, and finds himself amongst misery and heartbreak, Junior demonstrates resilience to overcome adversity and struggles.
Indian culture has been disappearing for centuries since the Native Americans were forced to migrate from their original homes. In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, an Indian boy displays how to escape the poverty of his Indian Reservation by going to a wealthy white school, as well as keeping his Indian Culture alive when living on the reservation. The Native American boy Arnold is able to show toughness, courageousness and the capability to overcome obstacles, by illustrating comics and playing basketball. For Arnold, drawing comics and playing basketball is a way to build his character and self-esteem. Without the freedom in writing comics and the self-confidence builder in playing basketball, Arnold would act
Have you experienced oppression? Arnold is an Indian boy who goes to an all white school. Arnold is treated differently since he is Indian by experiencing all types oppressions. The types of oppressions are Ideological, Institutional, Interpersonal, and Internalized.
Sherman Alexie makes it clear in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian that Native Americans believe that they are in no control of their financial situation. As a result of believing this, Native Americans will not try to overcome being in poverty. This creates an infinite circle of impoverishment. The main character of the novel, Junior, makes the hardships of being in poverty clear in this statement:
How White people assumed they were better than Indians and tried to bully a young boy under the US Reservation. Alexie was bullied by his classmates, teammates, and teachers since he was young because he was an Indian. Even though Alexie didn’t come from a good background, he found the right path and didn’t let his hands down. He had two ways to go to, either become a better, educated and strong person, either be like his brother Steven that was following a bad path, where Alexie chose to become a better and educated person. I believe that Alexie learned how to get stronger, and stand up for himself in the hard moments of his life by many struggles that he passed through. He overcame all his struggles and rose above them
Sherman Alexie’s character’s often struggle to release themselves from the stereotypes that have been forced upon them. The narrators of these stories all become the Indian that the white man wants them to be in order to tell their stories. This can leave the readers with a sense of discomfort, which is exactly what Alexie wants to do. He wants the reader to feel uncomfortable with these stereotypes so that they know there is something wrong with attaching a group of people to certain standards like that their all alcoholics, live on reservations, and spiritual. He pushes this feeling of discomfort onto his readers to make them aware of social injustice and immorality towards Native Americans and much of this discomfort is projected through the use of dark humor, cultural assimilation, and ceremony.
Growing up on a reservation where failing was welcomed and even somewhat encouraged, Alexie was pressured to conform to the stereotype and be just another average Indian. Instead, he refused to listen to anyone telling him how to act, and pursued his own interests in reading and writing at a young age. He looks back on his childhood, explaining about himself, “If he'd been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity” (17). Alexie compares the life and treatment of an Indian to life as a more privileged child. This side-by-side comparison furthers his point that
The Important word would be hope.What is hope?In my perspective a person that has hope is a person that shows determination,concentration and showing that they prove that they are the best at what they do.In the book “Part Time Indian” Arnold shows hope with him going to school everyday which was a struggle with him waking up really early to try to go to school and try to make it on time everyday.Also Arnold shows hope by Arnold trying his best in basketball by saying to the coach "I can do it," I said to Coach, to my teammates, to the world."You can do it," Coach said."I can do it .""You can do it.”"I can do it."
In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Arnold, also known as Junior, has many health issues, and notably stands out in the crowd. It does not help that he is a poor Indian boy that lives on a reservation, and that he decides to go to an all-white high school. Many of his experiences at school, and on the Reservation, impact his identity. Experience is the most influential factor in shaping a person’s identity because it helps gain confidence, it teaches new things, and it changes one’s outlook on the world.
Ever wondered what gets readers hooked on a book? In “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie the author has many ways to grab the reader's attention by using many techniques from humor to emotional and traumatic to suspense. In the book the main character named Junior is an Indian boy growing up on a reservation. By growing up on the reservation Junior makes a choice to leave the reservation and go to a white school which he encounters obstacles.There are many obstacles that happen even before Junior decides his knew path he will take as well as living on the rez. The path Junior choses gives him obstacle which creates an emotional and traumatic impact on him by showing the struggles he goes through from the events
Can you imagine growing up on a reservation full of people with no hope? The character Arnold in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie did. In the beginning of the book, Arnold was a hopeless Native American living on a hopeless reservation. In the middle of the book, Arnold leaves the reservation and finds out that his sister left too.
In this novel the main character, Arnold but also goes by Junior, "betrays" his reservation by going to a "white" school but he is bullied because he had a big head and a little body. Since the novel is semi-autobiographical it shows what Alexie went through as a child. He was bullied by everyone, even the adults of the reservation. Alexie widely bases his writings on race and also makes an effort to include the stereotypes that play along with each race, such as in the poem Go, Ghost, Go. Within the poem Alexie calls a white professor rich and unjust while calling Indians red men and also stating brown people will attack other people. (Alexie, Pg 21) Alexie largely bases his writings on his past, especially the parts in which he spent on the reservation. (Poetry Society) Another reason for his style of writing may be the fact that he wants his readers to know about Native American
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
In conclusion, Sherman Alexie created a story to demonstrate the stereotypes people have created for Native Americans. The author is able to do this by creating characters that present both the negative and positive stereotypes that have been given to Native Americans. Alexie has a Native American background. By writing a short story that depicts the life of an Indian, the reader also gets a glimpse of the stereotypes encountered by Alexie. From this short story readers are able to learn the importance of having an identity while also seeing how stereotypes are used by many people. In the end of the story, both Victor and Thomas are able to have an understanding of each other as the can finally relate with each other through Victor's father.
In his book, Sherman Alexie’s main character “Junior” goes through innumerous highs and lows feelings and thoughts. In the first chapters of the book, Junior makes a comparison between the lives of the Indians in the reservation with the outside world, pointing out the enormous struggles he and his people