The Absolutely True Diary Of Part Time Indian Essay

He also deals with an Identity-crisis and not able to recognize which should relate to. As he says ''They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going-away gifts from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn't believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town? (Sherman 27). On his first at the new school, Arnold sees himself not only through his own eyes, but also through the eyes his classmates as well. He realizes that they don't see him as Junior the weirdo Indian, to them, he is something foreign. In this sense, Arnold starts seeing the way he sees himself and the way his classmates sees him.

School and education was a big topic in Sherman Alexie’s, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, as the author reflects his personal life story into the protagonists’ story in the book. In the novel, Junior is a teenage kid who loves to read, but every time he goes to school in the Spokane reservation, he notices the poor education that is offered. From unmotivated teachers, to using the same textbook his own mother used to use, he knew he would end up like everyone else at the reservation, depressed, having low paying jobs, not motivated to make a change in the world. In order to be able to go to college, he knew he had to study at a high school outside of his reservation, because he would not have the education the college demanded if he stayed. During his years at the new high school away from his home, he missed a lot of school days due to funerals and ceremonies he had to attend back in his reservation. Even if Junior understood that, going to college might be difficult to do so if he was going to be attending the events at his reservation, he knew he was able to go to college from the education he gained at the new high school he attended. Similar to the article by Guillory and Wolverton, Junior, or Alexie, were able to attend college because of the high school transfer, which gained them higher quality education. Something not many Native American teenagers have the opportunity to do so, or the self-motivation, as they are still, more than likely, accepting

Furthermore, Arnold would not have been able to survive his freshman year at Reardan without the love from his close family and friends. With the compassion and support of his family (which includes his sister, grandmother, and parents), Eugene – and even Mr. P – Arnold was able to become successful during his first year of high school. Mr. P, Arnold’s previous geometry teacher at the Spokane reservation, does not want Arnold to lose all hope for his future and lose his chance to live a good life, so

Sherman Alexie is the author of Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In the novel, a boy named Arnold Junior experiences poverty, friendship, death, and being bullied. In this novel, Alexie uses significant events in Junior’s life to illustrate how even though poverty can lead to adversity, people can lead rich lives in other ways.

Although Rowdy seems to be one of Junior’s only positive aspects in his life right now, he was not a good influence. As Junior explains earlier in the book, Rowdy “fought everybody” (Alexie, 18). He would fight girls, boys, and even throw punches at the harmless raon. Junior also states that Rowdy was “born mad” (Alexie, 17). While there were times when Junior and Rowdy laughed together and shared their dreams and secrets, his best friend’s temper often endangered Junior (Alexie, 22-23). Unlike his new friend Gordy at Reardan High School who is intelligent, helpful, and full of hope, Rowdy was hindering Junior’s goal towards change and betterment in life. Another way Gordy has been beneficial to Junior is that he opens Junior’s mind to different perspectives and ideas about the world and people around him. It was Gordy who called Junior a “racist asshole like everybody else” (Alexie, 116) when asked how to make a white girl love Junior. Not only has Gordy been a non-violent and respectful friend to Junior, but he has provided him precious education as well. Junior would have never made a positive friend like Gordy in his hometown, Wellpinit. Because he chose to attend Reardan High school, he was blessed with the opportunity to befriend an empowering person like Gordy. Junior also makes other good friends as well, including Roger and Penelope. From saying racist insults

Arnold became good friends with a female student named Penelope after he gave her words of encouragement to dealing with her eating disorder. Arnold also became great friends with class genius, Gordy, after he defended Arnold's fact about petrified wood to the Geology teacher. At the reservation, Arnold was treated with resentment and disdain by his fellow tribe members. He was a traitor to his own tribe in their eyes. When Arnold decided to go to Reardan, a predominately all white school, most of his tribe members turned their backs on Arnold, thinking he had abandoned the tribe first.

Not only is Junior unpopular and alienated, but the victim of taunts and bullying as well. Furthermore, he’s considered a traitor after he transfers to Reardon. At Reardon, he’s called names and endures racial jokes until he finally finds acceptance through basketball and surprisingly finds friends with similar interests. Ultimately, Junior comes to the “huge realization” that not only does he belong to the Spokane Indian tribe, but to no less than 13 additional groups (Basketball players, cartoonists, bookworms, and sons to name a few). It is the first time he knows that he will be “OK”, sending a positive message to readers that identify with his struggles. By reading about characters similar to themselves, young adults can see that their challenges are not unique and are shared by other adolescents (Bucher & Hinton, 2009)

After Arnold Jr’s decision to transfer to Reardan school, he faces the consequences of being hated by Indians by his best friend and races white people in Reardon school. Arnold wants to get out of reservation to peruse a better life and better future so he transfers to Reardon school in white community. After his decision most of the people in reservation starts to hate him, they look at him as traitor. Even his best friend Rowdy turns into his worst enemy he starts to hate him he even punch’s him in the face. When finally, he goes to school in his first day all the student stared at him because he was not white

The novel's second major setting is Reardan, an affluent, mostly-white town 22 miles away from the reservation in Wellpinit. Reardan is home to the high school where Arnold decides to transfer. Arnold's identity in Reardan is not directly related to his tribe or his family. He is known in Reardan not as "Junior," but as

At the beginning of the book, Arnold was not confident in himself at all. He felt he wasn't good at basketball, he just kept saying how Rowdy was better. When Arnold and Rowdy tried out for basketball at Wellpinit he continued to put himself down without even knowing he was doing it. For instance, Arnold says that Rowdy would make the freshman team while he gets destroyed by the other kids "the bigger and better kids will crush me."-(Alexie, pg 28). Then once again

Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed reveals the ways of learning that helps people liberate themselves all while challenging the notion of education as being the practice of oppression. Through his theory known as the “banking method”, it is evident that education for minority groups and students of color are being limited and it is what makes them inferior beings. The “banking method” is seemingly seen throughout Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Freire’s exploration between student and teacher relationship is used as a lens to analyze how Arnold’s education is being shaped.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a fictional novel inspired by the life events of author Sherman Alexie. The novel is about a poor Indian named Arnold who lives on a reservation and feels petrified by the idea that he is destined to remain there forever, just like his family. However, he is hopeful about one day having a life outside of the reservation, and believes he will have a better chance of escaping by attending Reardan, the all-White school off the reservation. His new life at Reardan proves to be a difficult transition marked by racism from his peers. The novel uses Arnold’s experiences to comment on the social issues between Indians and White people. Through Arnold’s narrative, the reader is offered insight about the history of reservations and the quality of life for Indians who live on them, as well as the challenges of integrating into a White society.

Individuals around the globe face Injustices every day. They face these Injustices over something they have no control over like their skin color, nationalism and appearance. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie deeply explain the Injustices that Native Americans have faced. More specifically, this book focus on a Native American boy named Junior and how he fought against the Injustices on his reservation. He did this by never giving up, facing discrimination head on and Inspiring people on this rez.

Themes make stories have purpose and meaning in what the author is trying to address to the reader. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie and art by Ellen Forney is a story based on racism. The theme that fits the story best is “Don’t judge a race by what you’ve heard or seen, but what you’ve socialized with.” The basic symbol of the story is the comic that Junior who is the main character draws throughout the story.

Many people know Sherman Alexie as an award-winning poet, author, and filmmaker. It should be no surprise that his first venture into the young adult genre brought forth a masterpiece, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian. Although intended for a younger audience, anybody would enjoy this informative and humorous novel that covers difficult topics including poverty, racism and struggling with identity while growing up. The novel is written as a first-person narrative from the perspective a teenager living on the Spokane Indian Reservation, inspired by events from Alexie’s own life. Being semi-autobiographical gives the story an authenticity that can move any audience. The emotionally charged coming-of-age story is sure to make you laugh and cry.