Analysis of The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
For this month’s book report I read a book called ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’ by Lynne Reid Banks. This book was about a boy named Omri and his small Indian toy.
For Omri’s birthday he received a small Indian toy from a friend and a small cupboard from his brother. Omri put his Indian in the cupboard and to his surprise when he opened the cupboard the Indian toy had come to life.
Omri has to keep his Indian a secret for fear of an adult finding out. When Omri told his friend Patrick about the toy, Patrick wanted his own. Omri thought it was a bad idea but brought the toy to life anyway. When Omri brought Patrick’s cowboy toy to life, Patrick was very excited, but Omri was afraid he didn’t know that they were real people. Omri decided he would keep them both at his house. Patrick did not like this idea but agreed only if Omri would bring the cowboy and Indian to school the next day.
Then all the trouble started. Patrick and Omri were called into the headmaster’s office and the headmaster threatened to call Patrick’s father if he didn’t tell him what was going on. Patrick was so afraid that he showed the headmaster the Indian and the other toy. Luckily the headmaster thought he was seeing things and so he went home. Omri decided that the Indian was too much trouble and that he should put them into plastic again. So Omri locked the Indian into the cupboard and when he opened it again, the toy was p...
Sherman Alexie elaborates on his views of many themes through the experiences of Arnold Spirit in “The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part-Time Indian”. Creating a unique situation Alexie enables himself to touch particularly on the themes of identity and poverty, Arnold struggles through two different lives, the one at the reservation (home) and the one at school he struggles to find himself. After much turmoil in his classroom, his teacher suggests Arnold transfer to the all-white school in the neighboring town. Through the situations of Junior’s life, Alexie uses the setting, symbolism, and tone to describe his views on identity and poverty.
Imagine being put in a horrible situation that one has very little chance of escaping from. This happens to people all over the world and even occurs in Canada and the United States. Often this inability to escape horrible things is faced by many Native American populations. Sherman Alexie the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian made this very clear through plot, characters and the themes. Certain points in the novel stuck out which clearly represented how hard it is for Native Americans to escape poverty. Native Americans often believe that they have no control over being in poverty so they do not try to get themselves out of it. When Native Americans try to overcome poverty, they are often unsupported by tribe members and considered outcasts. Finally money on the reservation is often mismanaged, so the people of the reservation are unable to benefit from it. Although some people believe that being born into a Native American tribe has advantages the reality is that it is often near impossible for Native Americans to escape the poverty their reservations are plagued with.
In The House of the Spirits, Esteban experiences this due to his lack of inhibitions combined with his temper, which leads him to release his rage onto those who least deserve it, his family, and he becomes emotionally conflicted because his anger causes him to feel justified. Although he later regrets his behavior and wants to connect with his family, he fails to exhibit these emotions and his family avoids him at all costs. With the arrival of Alba, he receives another opportunity to make his true intentions known and mend his relationship with his family. However, he reserves his grandfather mask and the kindness attached to it for his granddaughter and his family continues to hate him. He begins to hide his patriarchal mask and begins to change after Alba’s kidnapping teaches him how it feels to lose everything, therefore, he finally allows Blanca to spend her life with Pedro Tercero and provides them with a way out of Chile, away from the political turmoil due to the military coup.
Deloria, with his analytical survey, Indians in Unexpected Places, recounts the synthesis of western white expectations, and American Indians. The book takes its title from the general thesis, which explores not only the relationship between Indians and their introduction into an alien culture, but also the expectations that we have of Indians and how they “should” interact with our white western culture. According to Deloria, the common notion is that, “Indian people, corralled on isolated and impoverished reservations, missed out on modernity- indeed, almost missed out of history itself.” (Deloria p. 6) This falsified expectation that we have of the Native American peoples causes us to balk at the anomalies of an Indian when combined with Western culture.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a humorous and intuitive novel written by Sherman Alexie. The reader gets an insight into the everyday life of a fourteen year old hydrocephalic Indian boy named Arnold Spirit, also referred to as Junior Spirit. He is living on the Spokane Indian reservation and is seen as an outcast by all the other Indians, due to his medical condition. Against all odds Arnold expands his hope, leaves his school on the reservation and faces new obstacles to obtain a more promising future at a school off the reservation. The novel is told through Arnold’s voice, thoughts, actions and experiences. Alexie incorporates one point of view, different themes and settings, such as poverty, friendship, Spokane and Reardan within Arnold’s journey to illustrate the different hardships he must overcome to gain a higher education.
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.
Alexie, S. (2009). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Alexie Sherman, a boy under an Indian Reservation that suffers from bullying since the 1st grade, who would have a hard time being around white people and even Indian boys. US Government provided him glasses, accommodation, and alimentation. Alexie chose to use the title "Indian Education" in an effort to express his internalized feelings towards the Native American education system and the way he grew up. He uses short stories separated by the different grades from first grade to twelfth grade to give an idea of what his life was like. He seemed to have grown up in a world surrounded by racism, discrimination, and bullying. This leads on to why he chose not to use the term Native American. He used the term "Indian" to generate negative connotations
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
The Nisqually Indian people lived very basic but complex lives. For example, they always ate the same kind of meals all the time, they hunted and caught things in the same places, they used the same materials to make clothes and canoes, and they never moved from place to place. But although this may seem basic there is more to the picture than just this. They had to make their own tools, catch their own food with the tools that they made, and they had to build the canoes and homes out of the large cedar trees around them. Imagine doing all of that handy work all the time. It would be very tough. This is what makes their lives complex. Us on the other hand, we build our homes with the help of machines, eat our food at restaurants, hunt/catch
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.
A passage from, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, contrasts Junior’s memory of climbing a giant pine tree next to Turtle Lake with Junior’s journey through his ninth grade year. Junior’s memory of tree-climbing reveals his perspective on the environment, the nature of his friendship with Rowdy, and his response to challenging opportunities, reflecting his journey through his 9th grade year.
A Mother in India, as a story depends on the facade of appearance and the reality of emotional abandonment within a male dominated & Victorian society. Duncan’s point is that Victorian men create monstrous Victorian women. Relationships of any emotional worth are rendered impossible between Helena and her daughter Cecily because of a life long separation imposed by the father. It is impossible for Helena to be Cecily’s emotional or spiritual mother because Helena is not emotionally equipped to be anything else other than a servant to her husband. Her life has been pre-arranged by a series of male allowances and dictates. Helena and Cecily’s relationship must be emotionally void to work within the shallow, materialistic pre-arrangement of their lives. Helena has nothing to offer her daughter but the emptiness that she’s acquired over her lifetime.
Historical fiction explains complex global issues by illustrating them through the lives of characters, who reveal the impacts of larger issues through their stories and conflicts. In political activist and author Arundhati Roy’s semi-autobiographical novel, The God of Small Things, seven year old twins Estha and Rahel grow up in Ayemenem, India in the wake of the abolition of the caste system, which still lurks behind many aspects of society. The twins are so close they often think of themselves as a single entity, and yet they are stark opposites in many ways, as Rahel is more spirited and unpredictable, while Estha is thoughtful and quiet. The arrival in India and subsequent death of their European cousin, Sophie Mol, throws the twins into
I lived in India for 15 years, since birth. I am not surprised that I was brought up in a rigid country. I was born in Patiala, a city of Punjab which is usually known for its antiqueness. Though I was born in Patiala, my upbringing was done in another town close to my birth city. My town was small but had a miscellany of people. One could find every kind of person in there. The first few years were not that hard; I used to go to school and then come back home. I enjoyed my life’s first few years but as it known that a coin has two sides my life was not totally a “Party all night”. I always had a bad gall bladder; it remained filled with urine all the time. My being shy always serves a great disadvantage for me. I had a hard time asking my teachers to use restrooms in case of urination. A teacher is not an omniscient who would know when I have to go to loosen myself. It would not be a surprise if I say I did it in my skirt all the time. Yes, I used to do that often and usually become a trouble maker for my teacher and the child care ladies who had to clean me. “She is a kid.” That us...