The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

Throughout history, many novels have achieved the title of “great” or “classic” due to their timeless ability to speak to readers on a deeper level. Three such novels that have a popular reputation of being “classic” are The Sun Also Rises, Maus I/II, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. These three novels by Ernest Hemingway, Art Spiegelman, and Sherman Alexie deserve their reputation as “classic” because they fit many of the scripts found in Lawrence Buell’s The Dream of the Great American Novel, thus making their timeless and highly engaging narratives relevant in today’s society. Beginning with The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway creates a story of the “lost generation” and their suffering of disillusionment after the first

This novel also deserves its reputation as “classic” due to its fulfillment of many of Buell’s criteria. For example, Alexie’s novel fulfills the first script because of its “master narrative” that takes place in the form of a highly personal “diary.” This story of a humorous adolescent who experiences the highs and lows of life has become a very popular genre, which has also seen success in the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The narrative of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is timeless and has already been subject to many retellings as it focuses on a young boy and his feeling of being an outsider due to personal factors, which, in this case, are such things as his brain condition and Native American

This divide is primarily seen when Junior transfers to Reardan High School, where, at first, he is subject to numerous instances of racial slurs and bullying due to his Native American heritage. Junior says, “But there were a few of those Rearden boys, the big jocks, who paid special attention to me … So mostly they called me names. Lots of names” (Alexie 63). This racism highlights the tension between Native American and whites, two groups who, in the case of Alexie’s novel, are not accustomed to interacting with one another. This divide is further highlighted through the Rearden and Wellpinit basketball games that Junior takes part in. Referring to the time when he walked out of the locker room to begin his first basketball game against his former teammates, Junior says, “My fellow tribal members saw me and they all stopped cheering, talking, and moving … And then, as one, they all turned their backs on me” (Alexie 143-144). This action by Junior’s fellow tribe members represents the divide between white Americans and the Native Americans, who were perturbed by Junior’s representing of Rearden. This divide creates the cultural context for the novel in which Alexie aims to highlight the continued difficulties of Native Americans in today’s society. By featuring this important cultural issue that