At the beginning of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, we are introduced to Junior, a fourteen-year-old Native American boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state. During one of Junior's geometry classes, while Mr. P, his teacher was hanging out the geometry books, Junior became mad at the fact that the book he was given was older and in worse condition than the ones that the white students at the neighboring school received. In his anger, Junior threw the book at his teacher, hitting him in the face and breaking his nose. For obvious reasons, Junior got suspended from school for a week. During his suspension, Junior's well-meaning teacher, Mr. P, proposed that he transfer to a different …show more content…
P's suggestion, but as he thinks about it more, he realizes that attending a school in Reardan could offer him better opportunities to escape the cycle of poverty and alcoholism that has plagued his community. However, Junior's decision to leave the reservation school is not without consequences, and he must carefully weigh the pros and cons of his decision. When Junior shares Mr. P's proposal with his parents later in the evening, his father initially reacts with anger, accusing Junior of being a traitor to his tribe. However, after some thought, Junior's parents ultimately support his decision, recognizing the importance of education in his future. Although his parents are concerned about the challenges he will face being the only Native American student at a primarily white school, they ultimately put their trust in Junior to make the right decision. In contrast to Junior's parents, his best friend Rowdy takes the news of Junior's potential departure from the reservation school much harder. Rowdy feels betrayed by Junior's decision and sees it as a personal affront to their friendship. He is angry and hurt, and the news drives a wedge between the two friends that lasts for a significant portion of the
Mr. p was one of the biggest inspirations to juniors actions. If it weren't for him Junior would be stuck at the rez forever and most likely become like all the other adults, drunk and angry. When junior began his journey to achieve his goals at Reardan it was very difficult. He was the only “different” kid there. Different meaning he was the only Indian in a school of white kids.
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.
He gets the strength to make it out of a bad environment, and into a new accepting one. On the reservoir, Junior wasn't accepted, so everyone ended up making him the scape goat and picked on him everyday. Moving into Reardan High School, he began getting even more crap from the Indians on the Rez;they didn't support him leaving because the tribe does the same traditions and follows the same old route. Junior got out the situation as soon as he could. He was not happy on the Rez with all the crap he got.
“There is always time to change your life.” (40) From there he decides to start fresh and begins a new life. At his new school, Reardan, Junior continues to carry the burden of being different and the bullying starts again. For a while he lets them pick on him like they did in his hometown, until one day he decides that things have to be different. He rises above every label and insult, and he turns his life around, proving again that nothing can break
Junior’s father’s drinking problems and the lack of funds to afford decent living conditions on the reservation are prevalent issues throughout the book that provide an insight into this theme. This proves that the author has written this novel to exhibit the hardships of those in poverty are detrimental to a child’s future. First, the novel shows the hardships of poverty by showing the discrimination made against Junior. On page 86, Junior states he “remembered when I [he] used to be a human being,” (Alexie 86).
It’s shown in the story that elders in the reservation, like Junior’s parents, don't succeed because they are around those that don’t try to succeed due to lack of
As the novel progresses Junior is keen on going to the school that is separated from his reservation called Reardon High. Even though Junior wants to go to this school so he can achieve a better education, much backlash came from Juniors tribe as it seemed as if he was abandoning his culture. Juniors started at Rearden very worried about what everyone would think of him, and on his first day he punched a white kid in the face for telling an insensitive joke to him. Junior went home feeling confident in what he did but later started to realize that him trying to prove himself to everyone was unnecessary.
He is a poor Indian going to a middle-class white kid school, but there is more to that. At the reservation there are these unspoken rules, if someone talks badly or insults you, you have to fight them, that is the first one on that list. Getting into fights is normal at Wellpinit but at Rearden, everyone is all talk. In the book, a kid named Roger and his friends were making fun of Junior so he punches Roger. Roger is taken aback because no one at Rearden actually gets into fistfights.
Junior loses a lot of friends and family at the young age of fourteen. He gets bullied because he was born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull, but he has his best friend Rowdy there to help him. Junior realizes that he needs to leave the reservation to get a better life for himself. He goes to a new school off the
It took a decent amount of time for Junior to become comfortable at Reardan. The first couple weeks he went there it was a time of adversity for him because he was like no one else there, and no one really appreciated that. Junior struggled most at Reardan his first day or two there, and the reader knows this when he says, “All of those pretty… white girls ignored me…. Most of the white boys ignored me, too” (Alexie 63). The reader is able to learn that Junior was heavily ignored at Reardan when he first started going there, and it ended up impacting his later decisions.
It goes back to when Junior’s old teacher, mr. P has this to say “when i first started teaching here, that’s what we did to the rowdy ones, you know? We beat them. That’s how we were taught to teach you. We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child.” This foreshadows how Junior has a big rip within himself and begins to drift away from Indian culture and adopts white culture.
Faced with many obstacles from poverty to racial stereotypes, Junior must override them if he is to make his life better than that of fellow Indians. Interestingly, rather than letting the obstacles hold him back Junior understands that his destiny is in his own hands and he must celebrate who he is even if it means fighting. In the end, we see a boy who have managed to overcome all hardships to get to the top, even if it means making tough choices such as changing schools, therefore is could be seen that race and stereotypes only made Junior
It is a very emotional scene, showing a change in identity. Junior wants to be himself, but also to go out and to seize amazing opportunities beyond the reservation. Junior decides to do both. He stays on the rez, but also commits to going to school in Reardan, an all-white town outside the reservation. People aren’t born strong - they become strong.
Junior being born on the Reservation has always been poor and put down by others. He has had a horrible life with pain coming from a new direction each day but has coped with it that is why he is still alive today to write this book. Although he may or may not admit it, the ways he coped with his life were not great after all. When faced with a
Argument for Banning “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Book in Middle Schools Published in 2007, “The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie says about the moving story of a Native American teenager named Arnold Spirit who made the bold decision to attend an all-white high school from Spokane reservation to find hope for the future in the Reardan. This volume won the National Book Award in 2007 and won several other awards. Even though this novel can be power of education, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” paperback should be banned because this is not appropriate for middle schools.