The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

1261 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Challenges facing adolescents

Adolescence is undoubtedly the hardest time of one’s life and during these years many face an abundance of pressure and want nothing more than to fit in with their peers. In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part – Time Indian, Junior is no exception to this. In addition to the stereotypical teenager issues that everybody faces, he deals with hydrocephalus, speech impediments that result in bullying, and discrimination against his culture. Throughout the novel Junior is constantly conflicted between staying true to his roots by living out reservation life, and breaking the cycle of poverty by doing what few others dare to and leave the reservation. Junior manages to escape from the cycle of “reservation life” due to both …show more content…

P, Junior’s teacher on the reservation, advising him to leave before the reservation takes whatever hope he still has. Junior listens to Mr. P’s advice to leave and reflects on what his loved ones could have amounted to should someone had paid attention to their dreams. Junior then decides that he does not want to look back on his life and think “what if?” but rather deal with the pushback and negativity now and be able to look back and think “remember when?”. Junior has seen his sister Mary have the sparkle of hope gradually fade from her eyes and fall into a state of apathy, along with everybody else on the reservation and by means of internal strength in which he himself was unaware he possesses, he decides that he must break free of the fatal cycle. Shortly after settling into school in Reardan, Junior comes to notice the vast contrast between getting an education in a “white town” compared to the reservation. One of the largest variations between the two is that unlike his peers on the reservation, Junior’s new classmates have nothing but hopes and aspirations. Though he faces extreme pushback at home on the reservation for “trying to be white”, his new friends at Reardan help to keep him from backing out, along with his own unwavering

Show More
Related

  • Part-Time Indian Struggles

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Hope In Sherman Alexie's 'A Part Time Indian'

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances.” (p. 13) In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior, the narrator, is an Indian teenage boy living on a reservation, where no one's dreams or ideas are heard. The Indians on the reservation feel hopeless because they are isolated and disenfranchised. Junior learns how to cope with his hopelessness and breaks through the hopeless reservation life to find his dreams. Examining his journey provides important examples for the reader.

    Read More

  • Absolutely True Diary Of Part Time Indian Essay

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Part Time Indian Heroism

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian showed all of the problems that arose in Junior’s journey. From poverty and alcoholism to bulimic semi-girlfriends, he had so many excuses to stop, but the passion of his dreams pushed him forward. Like a hero, Junior continued, determined to do well and build a greater future for himself. An example that showed Junior’s passion for education and desire to achieve his goals was when he threw an old geometry textbook at his teacher: “My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world…My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie, 31). Junior clearly understood his disadvantaged education and he was very upset about it. He longed for a better education. Junior was passionate about education, because it would allow him to achieve his goals and break the depressing pattern he was trapped in. Bravery and determination are caused by passion, and heroes are very passionate about their actions. Passion clearly drove Junior when he walked to school, since he said, “Getting to school was always an adventure…Three times I had to walk all the way home. Twenty-two miles. I got blisters each time” (Alexie, 87). Putting all of this effort into simply going to school, Junior must have had

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Cultural Influences in the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • Themes In 'The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian'

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    What drives people to work hard? Where does determination come from? What causes us to want to make something of our lives? These questions are answered through two prominent themes that run through this book. In reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, the character of Junior helps explore these questions through the power of expectations and hope. These themes give people drive, determination, and passion for their lives. When one or both of these important elements are taken away, that determination, passion, and drive goes with it.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time India

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Experience In Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian?

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Super Man And Me By Sherman Alexie

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    Because of his desire for learning, his passion for reading and his intelligence, he was picked on and was an outcast among his schoolmates. The author states, “If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he was an Indian boy living on a reservation and is simply an oddity” Alexie (17). In this regard the author is personified as somewhat alien in the reservation. He faces obstacles from his classmates, the school, which isn’t prepared to nurture his “unusual” intelligence and from society as a whole, which expects Indian kids to

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Indian Education

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

Open Document