The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a story of a boy who both runs away and copes with his problems. The boy in the book, Junior, has been bullied all his life and throughout the book he tells his stories using humor to make light of his depressing stories. The humor he uses is what helps him cope with his problems, those problems include: his smaller stature, his friendships, and lastly, death. The first of Junior’s problems is one he was bullied for since he was a young child. Junior was born with water on the brain, which caused him to have seizures. Not only was he born with brain damage but he was smaller than the rest of the reservation kids, and for this he was greatly picked bullied. The way Junior copes with this particular problem is by hiding from everyone on the reservation. In fact, when he’s at the white school, Reardan, he lets them bully him. Junior writes, “So, weak and poor and scared, I let them call me names while I tried to figure out what to do” (Alexie 64). Eventually …show more content…
Him and Rowdy have been friends for 14 years. In fact, they “have spent 40,880 hours in each other’s company” (Alexie 24). But, when Junior makes the hard decision of attending Rearden, an all white school, Rowdy does not take the news well. Consequently, when Junior informed Rowdy of this, Rowdy punches Junior in the face and leaves him behind. Because Rowdy and Junior have been friends for so long, Junior continues to pursue and attempting to regain Rowdy’s friendship. Junior had sent numerous emails and hand drawn cartoons to Rowdy, but Rowdy did not reciprocate the same actions. After trying to regain Rowdy’s friendship throughout the entire school year, Junior and Rowdy played a game of basketball and they “didn’t keep score” (Alexie 230). Because Junior was persistent in interacting with Rowdy they eventually became friends
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.
To conclude, in the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian an Indian boy shows 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.
During the course of the story, Junior and Rowdy both tackle the theme of identity. This is especially clear when Junior abandons him and leaves the reservation school to attend a predominately white school in a nearby town. In Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Rowdy is an aggressive character, but he uses this trait in a positive manner as he is also fiercely caring. This synthesis of positive and negative traits reveal that one's flaws can be good, and they allow for the separation and reunification of Rowdy and Junior in the novel.
In the fictional story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, describes the problems of a teenager living between two different cultures; one Native American, and the other white. Alexie uses figurative language elements to convince teenagers to be aware and support people living between two worlds in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. By using these literary elements, Sherman Alexie guides the audience to respond emotionally and act upon about the book’s message. Throughout the story, Alexie uses juxtaposition to show the differences between the two worlds the protagonist lives in.
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
Junior is constantly being told that white people are better, white people have more hope. Junior sometimes believes these expectations himself, but through all of that negativity he perseveres and demolishes those expectations:
Vast majority of Indian reservations are suffering from chronic poverty. According to American Indian Relief Council, the reservations have been cited as, “Comparable to Third World”, in terms of living conditions. In the novel written by Sherman Alexie, entitled, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, the main character, a fourteen year old, Native American teenager, which belongs to the Spokane tribe named Junior; stated that, “Poverty does not give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” This indicates that poverty can turn an individual to become a pessimist. On the contrary, poverty is not a destiny. Instead, it is a source of power, an encouragement that through hard work, patience and dedication, a person can succeed in every aspect of life.
Hardship is everywhere but Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” is an amusing and intelligent novel that clearly provides the reader with perfect examples of poverty and friendship on an Indian reservation. Alexie incorporates those examples through the point of view and experiences of a fourteen year old boy named Arnold Spirit Jr.
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Often at time’s society forces us to make choices we would rather not make, mainly because one is different or a different color. The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, is about how a teenage Indian who lives on Spokane reserve moves to a white school and gets shamed for being Indian, for making this decision his tribe has disowned him for leaving the rez and moving to the city. The main ideas are the rez, school, and family/friends. Jr’s dad is a drunk, but he loves his son. He has never missed a basketball game,Dad is an alcoholic who will disappear for days to drink. Rowdy is the toughest kid on the rez and all the other kids are afraid of him, but he always protects Junior from bullies. In return Junior helps
With the obstacles that happen to Junior, it creates an emotional and traumatic impact on Junior as well as getting the readers hooked to turn the page and keep reading. To begin, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Sherman Alexie describes a moment in Junior's life before he went to the white school. From comparing the death rates and even mentioning the deaths, Alexie shows an emotional impact on Junior from the deaths he has to go through. Alexie writes about how Junior being an Indian has impacted his life.
I decided to do my book report on the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This book is about a Native American boy who has to deal with various issues like racism, bullying, loss, health issues, and other more adolescent issues.
Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. N.p.: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.
As one develops maturity, the valuable mentor and mentee relationship is critical for the mentee to overcome barriers and to move towards success. In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie proficiently portrays the integral role of mentors and their influence that allows the protagonist to prosper and mature. First, Junior’s parents mentor Junior through their immense love by making sacrifices to allow Junior’s life to blossom with hope. Next, Mr. P, Junior’s teacher directs Junior towards hope through his forgiveness. Furthermore, during Junior’s toughest times at Reardan, Junior’s coach teaches Junior about the rewards of life with perseverance through his encouragement. Thus, in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior’s mentors are instrumental to Junior overcoming his struggles through their unconditional love, forgiveness and encouragement, ultimately assuring his success.
I can relate to this, not as far as race, but in a different way. At my school, there were stereotypes about the “volleyball girls”, and I was part of the volleyball team. At one point people thought this group of girls was all about partying and not school. Although, I was only focused on school and ended my high school career with only two B’s. Although this is not as an extreme case as Junior, I can still relate. In more of an extreme case, after Junior finally overcame his fear of leaving the reservation for a new and more positive life, he was not treated fairly. In the beginning of his experience at Reardan he writes, “After all, I was a reservation Indian, and no matter how geeky or weak I appeared to be, I was still a potential killer” (Alexie 2007:63). This is a perfect example of how easily people believe things they hear. Junior was literally a weak fifteen year old that could never hurt a fly, yet people looked at him as a killer because that was a stereotype about Indians. This idea goes along with Johnson’s thoughts of symbols, “symbols go far beyond labeling things” and “Symbols are also what we use to feel connected to a reality outside ourselves” (Johnson 2008: 36).