Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" presents a novel centered around Arnold Spirit Jr., a young Native American boy who must grapple with his dual identities as a member of the Spokane Indian Reservation and as a student at a predominantly white high school. Arnold refers to himself as a "part-time Indian," which serves as a critical commentary on the current condition of Indigenous peoples of the US, particularly those living on a reservation. This term emphasizes the way in which Indigenous peoples are often forced to straddle two worlds, leading to a sense of displacement and alienation. As I continue my essay, I will explore the idea of why Alexie believes he is a part-time Indian, and what this shows about …show more content…
This quote highlights the idea that Arnold is not fully accepted in either community, as his biracial identity creates a sense of otherness that is exacerbated by the cultural divide between the reservation and the white town. Arnold's struggle with his identity is a recurring theme throughout the novel and is a common experience for many people who grow up with a mixed racial identity. It is a feeling of not quite belonging to either community and feeling like an outsider. Furthermore, this quote also demonstrates the alienation and displacement that Arnold experiences as a result of his mixed identity. He is constantly forced to navigate the complicated cultural and social norms of both the reservation and the white town, and this struggle takes a toll on his mental and emotional well-being. Arnold's story is a powerful reminder of the challenges that individuals with mixed racial identities face in a world that often operates in black and white. Alexie's novel offers a glimpse into the complexities of identity and the challenges faced by those who do not fit neatly into one box. Arnold's journey is a testament to the strength and resilience of those who are forced to navigate the murky waters of racial
One of the main themes of the novel is Justin's struggle to find his place in the world, both within his own community and in the larger white-dominated society. Justin is a mixed-race Anishinaabe man, and this creates a sense of alienation, mistrust and a deep sense of not belonging for him. Throughout the novel, Justin reflects on how he felt growing up in a mostly white school, where he was bullied and dehumanized for his heritage. On page 100, Justin states, "I had to constantly be on guard, to hide my culture, to suppress my language... I felt like a stranger in my own skin."
The essay by James Baldwin recounts his stay in a small Swiss town where no black man had ever visited. The people in the town were captivated by his skin color because they have never seen a black person before. Baldwin visited this town few times and the town’s people even though they knew his name they were still fascinated by the color of his skin. The people didn’t see him as a real person and the children in town run after him shouting names and even though their cries were innocent the words effected Baldwin. In the essay he shows the different ways we effect and reflect each other’s identity.
A person's identity, or whom they think they are, can be tied to family, work, school, hobbies, race, religion, and more. None of how people construct identity has more to do with their sense of place than identity. In an excerpt from Jamaica Kincaid's novel Lucy, the narrator finds herself in a strange new place that challenges her identity. The author uses imagery, contrasting details, and tone to reveal the narrator's inner turmoil and sense of freedom. This passage uses metaphors to illustrate the narrator's situation and help the reader identify with the narrator.
A Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington is the setting of Alexie’s book. The Indian reservation gives us a firsthand look of a poverty stricken community. The main character in the book Arnold and his family and mostly all other families living on this reservation are poor. Their community is isolated from society; the main character feels that “the reservation is meant to be a prison” in the sense that they are isolated from the real world (Alexie 216).
Alexie uses this characterization to show that home is essential in shaping one’s identity. If Arnold had not been affected so negatively and had not felt such tremendous pain due to the effects of alcohol, he might not have put such a large emphasis on sobriety. His home gives Arnold the experience and perspective needed to decide how he wants to live his own life. Additionally, Alexie mentions “in the white world,” to imply that Arnold
All American Boys, co-written written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, is a young adult novel told from the perspectives of two high school classmates, Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins. Rashad is savagely beaten by a police officer who wrongly suspects that he is shoplifting, and Quinn witnesses the entire beating but originally pretends he did not. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the novel, All American Boys, looking at it through the lens of a racial and ethnical theory. Often times race and ethnicity can be confused as the same thing, but this essay will use two separate working definitions.
Morrison shows how both African American and Caucasian people can feel odd interacting with one another due to different races and the tensions between the two. Twyla disagrees with Roberta and believes
“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.
The novel follows their lives leaving residential school and their individual and overlapping experiences with justice, love, and loss. I will examine the many ways that stereotypes harm the characters in the novel.
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.
This book clarifies the significance of how black families endured discrimination and internal problems in their homes. Internalized oppression was the root of the tense relationships in the Maxson family. Troy has suffered many years of racism, which promotes him to protect his children from the harshness of society. In act 1 scene 3 Troy states, “The colored guy got to be twice as good before he got on the team.” Troy Maxson feels that the whites will never let his son get ahead in college sports.
The struggle to participate in white culture can have the negative effect of causing the minority group to lose cultural identity. In Melvin in the Sixth Grade, Avery strives to fit in with her classmates. To be accepted, she tries to assimilate to their culture and begins to lose her cultural identity. She begins to edit how she speaks. “For the first time I really heard what the kids in school heard when I spoke,” (Johnson 167) she says when she heard her brother using her native dialect after spending a day at school listening to white kids.
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.
Her insistence that she is from the “Blackfoot side” (292) when asked which side of the border she is from proves this. The reader can identify irony in the idea that the protagonist and his mother would be able to cross the border with ease if she were to only claim her national citizenship. This reinforces the concept of pride that she is trying to teach her son because when she does not allow the border to alter her identity, she shows him the power of self-dignity. The protagonist’s idea of his own identity strengthens when he is told that his words “do not count” (292) after he states that he is both “Blackfoot and Canadian” (292). He identifies as both, yet his mother’s unshakable identity as only Blackfoot teaches him that he does not “have to be American or Canadian” (293), but can be something else entirely and independently.
The book focuses on a young boy named Arnold Spirit who shows persistence and bravery as he defies all odds and strides towards a happier more successful life than his parents and ancestors before him. Arnold is a bright, inspiring young boy who grows up with little fortune and is destined to continue down the path of a poor, misunderstood Indian. However, his fate changes for the better when a spark lights the fire inside of him to strive to pursue a better, more flourishing life as he makes an extraordinary decision to transfer to an all-white school for a worthier education. However, the drastic change of schools puts a burden on his family to get him to school as well as leads to extreme bullying from not just kids at his new school but also from his fellow Indians in his hometown. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I learned that it doesn 't matter what your situation is and what you are expected to accomplish in your lifetime or what standards have already been set for you because you can be whoever you want to be with hard work, ambition, and confidence.