In Arnold's case, poverty is a very serious situation, which has impacted his life into many negative aspects. Poverty among Native Americans affects them more physically than academically or socially because they have limited services and transportation. In the book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, Arnold has a very difficult time getting to school because he lives on the reservation and his school is 22 miles away. In one situation, Arnold said "My dad was supposed to pick me up. But he wasn't sure if he'd have enough gas money...If they didn't come, I'd start walking...Twenty-two miles. I got blisters each time" (Alexie 87-88). Arnold's biggest struggle everyday is trying to get to school. There…
In the short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, the narrator’s life parallels Alexie’s in many ways. The narrator of this story is a boy named Victor who lives on a reservation with his two parents. Like Victor, Alexie grew up on a reservation in the state of Washington. Both boys were teased and bullied by their fellow classmates and initially decided to go to school outside of their reservation for greater educational opportunities.…
Sherman Alexie was a young Indian child that was driven to know how to read and right. He was determined to turn other opinions, that didn't matter to him, down and set out to do what he had the desire to do. Alexie didn't let the stereotype that ¨he was an Indian¨ slow him down either. Indians were expected to be at a lower education level, but Alexie wasn't willing to obtain that thought. Frustrated with the lack of change in his Indian community, Sherman Alexie sets out to defy stereotypes, and save the lives of those without equal chance through reading and writing.…
This book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. ¨ If youŕe good at it, and you love it, and it helps you navigate the river of the world, then it can not be wrong.¨ This book is about how people can make mistakes and abuse others in a negative way. Things can lead out into violence and to death and heartbreak. Three characters who hope and fear are Rowdy, Mary, and Junior.…
In the book The Absolutely True Story of a Part - Time Indian by Sherman Alexie The main character Junior has to deal with many obstacles that take a tool on him throughout the book. One of the obstacles that Junior faces is the loss and depression from losing two family members. Another obstacle is that Junior has to leave his home reservation school and go to an all white school can Reardan. The final obstacle that Junior faces is that he has a brighter future and smarter than most kids on his reservation.…
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.…
“The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian” (PTI) is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel follows a Native-American teenage boy named Arnold who lives on a reservation that has to suffer through the troubles of being the only Indian teenager in an all white school at Reardan. The challenges that confronted him when he started at Reardan seemed menacing, but through his personal spirit and courage he was able to achieve success at the school. Some of Arnold’s successes include his triumph in the Varsity basketball team as their “secret weapon”, his academic efforts and his charismatic persona which helped him blend into the all white school.…
Sherman Alexie's work is like a straight shot into the mind of a Spokane Indian. Probing every corner of the conscious and bringing forth the thoughts and opinions of his people. Alexie projects through his work the trials…
I really enjoyed reading Alexie’s essay. What he writes about is very expressive, and you get the full point of what he is trying to express. The main part that touched me is when he is explaining how he was treated, and what he had to go through just because he was smart, and wasn’t afraid to express himself. The other children would beat him up; he was looked down on, and also treated as an outsider because of this. Alexie didn’t care though because he knew that there was something other than the reservation in his future, and that the world was much bigger than the reservation that he lived on, and there was more to be gotten on the outside. He wasn’t going to let the other Indians keep him down, and stop him from learning. It’s awesome that when Alexie is an adult he goes back to reservations to help the children, because when he was a child there was no one that was there to support him, or to look up to other than…
Through his omniscient point of view, Sherman Alexie approaches his audience embracing three important topics in his short story. First, the author illustrates through his narrative the socio-economic conditions that in the present time continue to affect thousands of Native Americans through-out Indian American reservations in the United States. Second, he allows his audience to relate Victor’s personage with himself by describing places, experiences and characters that were part of his real life in his younger years as a teenager. Finally by using victor’s negative behavior, the author highlights and…
The 1960’s, when Sherman Alexie was born, was not an easy time for people of colored backgrounds. With the Civil Rights Movement and other movements for colored people, it must have been difficult for Native Americans to make it in life. By reading books and acquiring knowledge, even a Native American can be successful and “save his life.” Even though they were expected to fail during this time period, acquiring wisdom made them smarter in school, causing them to gain respect, not pity from whites. Alexie tries to express the idea that reading books can give one knowledge, therefore allowing them, white or colored, to be successful in life to “save their life.” Alexie believes that by reading books, he “saves his life” and becomes successful, inspiring other Indians in his society to follow his path and “save their lives.”…
In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian the theme i chose for this essay is Individual versus society based on what Junior had to go through for leaving the reservation. I believe this is the most important theme in story because Junior had to go deal with the hate from mostly everyone in the reservation, the racist view everyone has on indians, and is life at Readen.…
Overall, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie encompasses the protagonist’s struggle to adapt to his change of schools. He effectively displays this by using detailed visuals that support his text. The images also give the reader a better understanding of how the main character feels and how he views the situation at hand. Some of the many significant illustrations include Arnold’s portrait, his emotional experience with Rowdy, and his comparison of Indians and whites. If you were a minority, how would you accustom yourself to a new…
Every human being will face personal challenges and what makes it different is, how we accept those obstacles and how we make decision to overcome those challenges in our life. The absolutely true dairy of part time Indian by Sherman Alexie clearly shows how a typical Native American faces challenges in his life. In order to become a better version of ourselves, Arnold and myself had to overcome challenges like getting better education, adapting to new life style and believing ourselves and we both experienced racism. Arnold Sprit and I have to face obstacles to get a better education.…
Over the course of a novel, it is inevitable that characters will encounter battles, and more often than not will have to take them on face to face. The battle is either literal, and involves two sides fighting against each other, or figurative in which two sides aren’t physically fighting, but rather in competition for something intangible, and in a sense is metaphorical. These battles are often the main conflicts in the story or for characters in the story, that stem from the greed of one group or side. In other cases, the battles result from characters trying to be something much larger than they ever will be. The battles most often result in a gain of knowledge and wisdom among the characters that were involved. Others gain a newfound sense…