In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie brings the reader on a journey through the main character, Arnold Spirit. Arnold a.k.a Junior, is a teenage Spokane Indian who chose to attend Reardan High School in a neighboring town. With his decision to attend Reardan high school Junior soon became a traitor to his tribe. During this time Junior endured difficulties with who he is as a person. Eventually, Junior starts to learn that he needs to move on with his life and escape from all the negativity surrounding him. The need for escaping negativities of one’s life is common among many. But with the right decisions and hope for moving on one could grow as an individual. As they gain a fresh perspective of …show more content…
With Junior’s town being affected by alcoholism and poverty, his choice for getting a better source of education allows him to start making a better life for himself. The advice for this decision was given by his former teacher Mr.P. who said, ”You fought off all the drunks..kept your hope. And now...take your hope and go somewhere other people have hope.” The need to escape a toxic situation helped Junior to see a different perspective in his life. As his friend Rowdy and all the drunks in his rez, stifled and hindered his individual growth. This being because Rowdy and the drunks didn't want anything to change. So when the decision was made to move on with life, and form new healthy relationships Junior gots the feeling of being set free. This helped to change his mindset to being in control of his life, thus allowing control for good or bad situations. As Junior states, “...every choice I make is important...it can be the difference between being happy and being miserable.” With many people experiencing a similar decision in their life, one could relate to this need for escape in order to grow as an
One internal expectation for Junior was him never giving up. Junior leaving for Rearden was a part of his internal expectation of fighting against the external expectations. “I had to add my hope to somebody else’s hope. I had to multiply hope by hope” (43). He left the reservation in order to help his outcome of never giving up.
Junior Spirit from the novel “ The absolutely true diary of a part -time Indian” has many dreams and hopes he wants to achieve. He has to go through many obstacles to get what he desires. The whole novel itself has many different outcomes for a theme but in my opinionn, his dreams are the main one. Junior Spirit is a 14- year old Indian boy who lives with his family and other Indians in the rez. In the rez, Junior is more of an outsider than a popular kid.
In the novel,Absolutely True Diary Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Axle,Arnold spirit, the protagonist, is a nerdy kid with health problems. Arnold has big hands and a big head that many people make fun of him for. Also, he is so smart that he has to act dumb so that Indians won’t know how smart he is. ‘’like he said in the book that I have to look dumb near them so that they will now that i don 't belong’’. Arnold has health problems because he said that it happens to him in the beginning of the book.
Although JD attempts to detach himself from the pressures of teenage society, they eventually get the best of him resulting in a harmful devaluation of his self worth to the
When Junior goes to this school people treat him differently he acts differently he even goes by a different name. He doesn’t want to forget about his heritage and the people he left behind but he feels like this school will get him on a better path for life. He also feels a little bit guilty about leaving his friends and family from the reservation behind and moving on in life. You can see this in a quote from the book "My name is Junior," I said. "And my name is Arnold.
Alongside this, Junior’s poverty only seems to get worse in his mind when his dad dropped him off at
“In the middle of a crazy drunk life, you have to hang on the good and sober moments tightly.” (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie page 216) This is a quote from the book that shows how Junior learns how to appreciate the good moments in life. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie the character Junior faces problems caused by drinking. The book starts off with his family living on the Indian reservation suffering from poverty and death.
In his book the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie portrays a teenage boy, Arnold Spirit (junior) living in white man’s world, and he must struggle to overcome racism and stereotypes if he must achieve his dreams. In the book, Junior faces a myriad of misfortunes at his former school in ‘the rez’ (reservation), which occurs as he struggles to escape from racial and stereotypical expectations about Indians. For Junior he must weigh between accepting what is expected of him as an Indian or fight against those forces and proof his peers and teachers wrong. Therefore, from the time Junior is in school at reservation up to the time he decides to attend a neighboring school in Rearden, we see a teenager who is facing tough consequences for attempting to go against the racial stereotypes.
In his double life in Reardan and on the reservation, he feels “like a magician slicing himself in half, with Junior living on the north side of the river and Arnold living on the south,” (p. 60-61) “I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other. It was like being Indian was my job, but it was only part-time.” (p.118) Just as his absolutely true identity includes both Junior and Arnold, the divided extremes he describes often turn out to be hazy. Roger, the Reardan student who greets Junior in the schoolyard with a cruel racist joke, becomes a sympathetic friend and role model; Rowdy is both Junior’s greatest friend and his worst enemy, and hates him because he loves him so abundantly. Things like the basketball game Reardan wins against Wellpinit becomes both a glorious victory and a shameful moral loss for Junior.
Junior is empathetic to not only Rowdy but also Penelope. Junior opens up to Penelope about his dreams and develops a liking for her this is very empathetic and proves that Junior doesn't follow Katz' rule that empathy is for nerds. Another example of Junior being empathetic is the fact he says that he misses Rowdy a lot when they part ways. His longing for Rowdy shows he doesn't conform to the Code of Conduct set up by
After everyone compliments his suit, he realizes it is okay to be different. Another example of this lesson is when Junior goes to Reardon, knowing he is going to be the only Indian there. Junior knows he will be the only non-white student at reardon, yet he goes anyway. Even though he has to deal with being picked on, and standing out, he learns to cope with it. In conclusion, Junior is not afraid to be different, since he has had a lot of experience as always being different in his life.
After leaving the reservation Rowdy hated Junior on and off the basketball court. When Rearden had a game against Wellpinit, the reservation high school, Rowdy didn't take it easy on Junior. After Junior got stitches during the first quarter after being hit with a quarter on his forehead Junior got tougher. In the third quarter Junior was back in the game. "I immediately stole a pass and drove for a lay up.
As Winston Churchill said,” Success is not final. Failure is not fatal”. It is the perseverance and hope to continue that counts. This is the story of a boy named Junior whose key is his hope. The Absolutely True Diary is the life story of a Arnold Spirit (Junior) and his efforts to break the stereotypes about Indians.
Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11).
He does this by not telling anyone he poor and about his struggles to get to and from school. Even though Junior begins being isolated from everyone when he starts Reardan he eventually is accepted and loved by his