Perseverance in the Face of Cultural Conflict
Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese writer and philosopher, notes that, “The key to success is action, and the essential in action is perseverance. Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, also writes about the importance of perseverance and how it contributes to success in his novel. In Alexie’s novel, Arnold Spirit Junior, the protagonist, experiences perseverance during his decision to leave Wellpinit High School, when he confronts Roger after arriving at Reardan High School, during the basketball game with Wellpinit playing against Reardan, and when Rowdy antagonizes him at the basketball game. Therefore, Junior has to persevere in many instances throughout the novel and
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For example, in the moment that Junior recognizes his mother’s name in his thirty year geometry book. When Junior saw his thirty year geometry book, it was evident that the Wellpinit school was not giving him an adequate education, and he knew that he needed a good education if he wanted to succeed in life. As a result, Junior wishes to transfer from Wellpinit to Reardan in order to acquire a stronger education, he experiences perseverance. To exemplify this, Junior states that, “‘I want to go to Reardan,’ I said again. I couldn’t believe I was saying it. For me it was as real as saying, ‘I want to fly to the moon’”(46). This develops the theme that perseverance is efficient in resolving cultural conflicts because it shows Junior taking initiative and responding to the issue of not fitting into the Wellpinit education system. By using the simile, it is emphasized that moving away from Wellpinit and going to Reardan is terrifying; however, he still pushes past this fear and perseveres in order to achieve his goal and solve the cultural difference that he found within himself. In addition, the idea of perseverance is revisited when Junior is confronted by Roger and his friends on one of Junior’s first days at Reardan. In this scene, Roger insults Junior with a racist comment. Therefore, Junior punches Roger in order to stand up for himself. To further explain this, Junior says, “So I punched Roger in the face… And he wasn’t laughing when his nose bled like red fireworks” (65). This description emphasizes perseverance as Alexie explains the confrontation between Roger and Junior with great detail and focus on Junior’s rare ability to stand up for himself. The confrontation itself shows the cultural difference in Junior, as he is not able to get along with the white students at Reardan. The comparison of Roger’s injury to red
Sherman Alexie was a man who is telling us about his life. As an author he uses a lot of repetition, understatement, analogy, and antithesis. Alexie was a man of greater words and was a little Indian boy at the beginning of the story and later became a role model for other boys like him who were shy and alone. Alexie was someone who used his writing to inspire others such as other Indian kids like himself to keep learning and become the best that they can be.
This has shown me what a bicultural individual must undergo until he can be considered as accepted. To sum this concept in one simple sentence, the text has used a metaphor describing what is like combining the two culture, “It was like climbing onto a made-in-Australia dragon-shaped life-raft in a sea of contradicting”. The metaphor simply makes the concept much easier to understand as a reader making it relatable in the aspect of the reader picturing it in their heads. As I said, this story has also shown me what it is like for a bicultural individual to live in a modern day
In this analysis includes a summary of the characters and the issues they are dealing with, as well as concepts that are seen that we have discussed in class. Such as stereotyping and the lack of discrimination and prejudice, then finally I suggest a few actions that can be taken to help solve the issues at hand, allowing the involved parties to explain their positions and give them a few immersion opportunities to experience their individual cultures.
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
During the movie, I found that these concepts that were taught in class helped me better understand and relate to certain clips of the movie. Throughout the rest of the paper, I will be going into a bit more detail about exactly what these concepts are and mean, following that I will be giving examples from the movie that demonstrate the concepts of conflict and politeness theory.
To begin with, one of the lessons the story shows is that the situation one wishes and hopes to be
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.
, mind the downfallsHowever, . iIf the children didn’tdidn’t learn these from those lessons, they would’ve ended have ended up like their parents. Their parents were, homeless in the streets of New York, unable to maintain jobs, settle down, or act like mature adults capable of raising children. Even though Rex and Rose Mary succeed in the ways they taught their children in a poor manner, the lessons were learned.but also failed as in how they followed through with the way they tried to In order. fFor Rex and Rose Mary to be a considered ‘good’ parents‘good parent’, they must work as a family to get what they want; meaning they must strive for the goal for what they want and apply themselves instead of ‘getting by’. They show their strength and will by saying it It is the Walls vs. the world. They turned their children into behaved, intelligent, and outgoing adults. Rex and Rose Mary teach their children the way of life through absurd lessons and experiences and experiences about how to become a successful, mature, well- behaved adult through self-reliance and
It deals with obstacles in life and the ways they are over come. Even if you are different, there are ways for everyone to fit in. The injustices in this book are well written to inform a large audience at many age levels. The book is also a great choice for those people who cheers for the underdogs. It served to illustrate how the simple things in life can mean everything.
One afternoon his mother gave him money to purchase groceries from the market at the corner of the street. A gang of boys spotted Ricard with money in his hand. They saw him as an easy target and repeatedly beat him, stealing his money. Despite this, his mother would not allow Richard to set foot in the house until he had the groceries. She just gave him more money and sent him off again to buy groceries for the family. Richard, fearful that the boys will injure him, grabs a wooden stick as a weapon for self defense. The boys hastily confront Richard only to be brutally beaten by his wooden stick. For the first time in his life, Richard is prideful and joyful of such an accomplishment. However, he is fearful that he will be beaten in the future, causing Richard to act differently around his peers and engage in violence. This fear affects Richard because he is not acting like himself around others. He is constantly worrying about survival, not quality of life. Next, Richard chooses not to eat breakfast with his employer. This puts Richard in an uncomfortable situation that he chooses not to engage in. He does not want to eat with the white employer because he is fearful that something terribly wrong will happen. Also, Richard feels as if he will be put into a trap and forced to say something unruly and hurtful. It is intelligent of Richard to to disengage from such situation. This is especially true because he does not repeatedly act white. Richard is chastised by his employers for acting in such way. For example “You think you’re white, don’t you? ... No, sir. You’re acting mighty like it” (188). This clearly shows that the opinions and actions of the south deeply affect Richard’s behavior. Richard’s confusion leads him to be fearful because he does not yet know where he fits in with society. Due to this fear, he is extremely cautious in the way
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.
As he grew older, he learned how to direct his hatred of his mother to the cat, and spent happy moments watching it suffer”. (Pg 86) Junior starts to realize that his mother care more about the cat instead of him. So he starts to release all his built up hurt and pain and let’s all that out on the cat. The third quote has to deal with Junior getting older and he started to enjoy bullying girls. It was making them scream and run. There was one girl in particular that he loved to bully and that was Pecola. Junior treated Pecola bad but that was his way of having “FUN” . “No!” He pushed her down, ran out the door that separated the rooms, and held it shut with his hands. Pecola’s banging on the door increased his gasping, high-pitched laughter. Junior traps Pecola in a room and he thinks it fun ,but she is scared and she is trying to escape. (WP-U) Self- worth can affect you bad. To the point that you retaliate back. Junior did not have the love from his mother that he was wishing for so he felt like no one else could have the love they wanted, because he suffered the people he mistreated had to suffer as
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age film that chronicles the life of a boy named Charlie. Charlie is 15 years old and has just begun his first year of high school. He will give a detailed account of the joys and pains of his freshman year in high school. He begins by writing letters to an unknown stranger, but then, you realize that stranger is you. Through these Charlie tells his story from his perspective. He will experience many highs and lows related to the adolescence phase. The highlights of the paper will focus on the biological/physical, psychological, social, spiritual, cultural issues, as well as his strengths and challenges.
...s with oppression, fear, guilt, prejudice, and bullying, as well as hope, and family honor. Fighting and defending Fadi’s cultural background isn’t easy in a new country. On top of that, he struggles not only with the typical problems of fitting into middle school, but also with the discrimination often presented toward any immigrant after the 9,11, 2001 attacks. Luckily Fadi and his family always look at the positive outcome of things, making honorable decisions even in the roughest situations. As Fadi faces the loss of his sister, bullying at school, and adapting to a new home in America, he always stays strong. Fadi struggles against his cultural roots by moving on with life. While Fadi is forced into the devastating events of the attack, he also provides a story of hope and resurgence.
...ves with (sentence 1). Instead he takes the initiative to learn from his cousin and become a part of the desirable “social intercourse” that she described to him (sentence 4). To Rastingac he will have nothing but “scars” to show for his hard work if goes the conventional route (sentence 4). The “contrast was too absolute” his two worlds became black and white. He wants to belong and rule both of them. He believes he has the drive and ambition to accomplish this.