An individual that conforms to society will only go as far as society allows. It seems as if an individual’s personal aspirations are held at the will of society’s judgment if there is even a slight whiff of deviation from the ‘social norm.’ Arnold is a teenage boy who dreams big but feels limited due to his circumstances, so he seeks better education at Reardan. On the surface, Sherman Alexie’s, “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian” portrays a teenager’s struggle of poverty growing up on an Indian reservation, however, it more importantly conveys an individual’s struggle against societal constraints. Arnold has a clear conscious when it comes to the reality of the poverty he lives in. The author communicates this, “And because you 're Indian you start believing you 're destined to be poor. It 's an ugly circle and there 's nothing you can do about it” (13). The author alludes to the circle of life, which repeats itself when something dies it gives rise to a new life; a cyclical eternity of death and rebirth. Arnold applies this cyclical concept to his situation, insisting that his life of poverty was inevitable because the Indians from which he originated were also in a state of destitution. Arnold views his poverty as a societal prison that keeps his dreams out of reach. Arnold reflects, “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No poverty only teaches you how to be poor” (13). The author uses this line as a tool to show
All Arnold’s life, he thought that non-Indians had it better, but this passage indicates that he saw that was not always true. While they did live in poverty, Arnold realized that at least he had his family. This brought on a revelation that non-Indians didn’t have it perfect, and what Arnold may be lacking, others are missing what Arnold does have. This discovery in that everyone was missing something perhaps bridged a stronger connection to the two worlds Arnold was living
Sometimes when you think someone has given up all hope, they might just surprise you and run; run towards their dreams and use the last glimmer of hope they had left. They surprise you with their sudden barrage of inspiration. Mary Spirit from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a prime example of sudden inspiration and spontaneity however, at first this side of Mary is certainly hidden. When I was first introduced to Mary I felt that she had an intimidating and frigid attitude. Arnold states “After high school, my sister just froze.
In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior Adams’s expansion of his own reality has made him aware of other things and has allowed him to find joy in unlikely experiences from those he’s known. From the title onwards, Junior makes it very clear that he himself is a Native American. He indicates how he has spent his entire life on the reservation. He lives on in northwestern Washington, and he mentions how he has never been far from it; he has only been to Spokane. When reminiscing about where he could be, he mentions how “I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation” (Alexie 7).
Rowdy was an upstander but also a bully and a brave person in the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” written by Sherman Alexie. Rowdy was the best friend of Junior , the main character of the novel. Rowdy helps Junior by protecting him. Rowdy was a good friend to Junior since the Andruss brothers who were triplets and about 30 years old hit Junior and Rowdy wasn't scared of them even if they were older than him. Rowdy did whatever he could to keep his relationship with Junior.
Have you ever lost someone you loved or was important in your life? Well Junior has, he has lost many people in his life. He has gone to a total of 42 funerals in his lifetime and he is only 14. You will find out more about Junior in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Most of the people Junior has lost were due to alcohol.
When I was reading Sherman Alexie’s books, Blasphemy and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I found that Alexie likes to adjust his way of writing dramatically based on his audience and the story(s) that he is trying to tell. For example, when he wrote Blasphemy he was writing to an audience that consisted more of adults that would’ve been in their early 20’s or older, based on the complexity of how this book is set up. Alexie made it so that this book was many stories of Indians, not just him or family, but a lot of people. There are some that don’t make any sense and you really have to pick it apart to understand his subtle references. His approach to writing The Absolutely True… is more for young adults, maybe 12-19 year olds,
The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is not simply written. The author Sherman Alexie, uses several words like articulate, hormonal, and decrepit which displays that the novel could be read by people of all ages. This novel is wonderfully written so that people of every socioeconomic status can relate to real-world problems like poverty, racism, death and substance abuse. Alexie uses simple language to convey the thoughts that are actually inside people’s minds. For instance, in the first chapter of the book, the author introduces Arnold to the world (Alexie, 2007).
In the poem “Spirit in Me” by Esther G. Belin,and the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie both characters share similar life experiences such as effects from alcoholism that affect their lives negatively. Everyone in life has a goal they need to reach and to reach your goal you might have to go through emotional times and so did Junior from the book and the speaker from the poem. Junior and the speaker were facing life the hard way because of the effects of alcohol.in the first story junirs family was being targeted by alcohole one by one becsue the rezervation was a place where evyone got got drunk and died because of that or they were killed by people who were drunk. “We’d lost my grandmother and Eugen
The Merriam-Webster defines the word culture as, “…the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time.” This definition can be used to explain the reason in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, why Junior will never escape reservation life. Those who live in his Reservation will also never succeed in escaping reservation life because there is nothing to escape from. Juniors perceived success at leaving the reservation at the end of the novel isn’t there to make it seem like he wants to escape, it’s there to show that he has come to terms with his life, and no longer uses the reservation as an excuse for why his life isn’t what he wishes it was. It is this internal acceptance of who he is, where he comes from, and everything that
Society has made kids believe they belong to one social group or another. That you are either popular or a nerd. Being White and pretty makes you ideal - but being disabled and Indian makes you a freak. Is it possible to break the social norms? For a disabled Indian to befriend people from all classes, and become popular himself?
Within Chapter 5 of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian the main focus is on Juniour realizing he has to leave to find more hope. Firstly, Juniour gets suspended for hitting Mr.P with a book unintentionally. Secondly, a week into the suspension, Mr. P comes for a visit and although what junior did wasn't very pleasant, he forgave juniour anyway. After listening to Mr. P speak about him and his sister, Juniour begins to think about his sister Mary hiding in the basement and his dad sitting alone in his room watching tv.
The Importance of Hope: The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian shows the importance of hope throughout the entire novel. The author states how significant hope really is, and how it helps us have courage in even the toughest situations. From the start to the end of the novel, you can see how the members of the reservation lack hope.
An Indian whose life has changed after switching to a different school and has found amazing friends that care for who he is no matter his difference. The story “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie created a made-up character that represented himself and his life as an Indian throughout the book. He also wasn’t just making a book about himself but having two different worlds, both of how he was on the Reservation and Reardan. The character I am introducing is Junior and he is a fourteen-year-old boy, who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation, he was born with hydrocephalus which is brain grease or too much water in the brain. He has a huge skull, big feet, and hands, but is very skinny, he wears thick
To drive back and forth between two identities The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian has two main settings, the Pacific Northwest towns of Wellpinit and Reardan. The contrast of the two different settings, a poor Indian reservation on the one hand and a wealthy white community on the other, has a lot to say for the main character in the book, Arnold Spirit Jr. There can be a lot behind to main settings in a book, and that is what I am going to analyze in this essay.
The story follows the fictional Joad family as they make the voyage from their farm they have been kicked off of, to the land of California. Despite being fictional characters, they are representative of the thousands of real-world families that made the voyage and faced similar if not identical hardships. Though the events described occurred some 80 years prior to date, many of the social pieces that occurred are still happening in our country today. Man’s inhumanity to man is still prevalent in many ways, such as our views on social justice, police, and more. There are so many connections that can be made across the time frames that have been discussed and yet more still.