The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

Optimism is defined as the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world. Everyone has the ability to be optimistic, but it is up to those to chose if they will be, or not. In “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, Junior is a Spokane Indian who was born with a mixture of medical problems. He considers education very important, so he leaves the reservation to learn at an all-white school. Junior experiences many issues throughout his life, and because of this, he needs to stay optimistic. Even though there are many things to feel upset about, Junior uses humor to face his issues with bullying, poverty, and death, which demonstrates a person’s ability to stay optimistic even while dealing with
Living with poverty teaches Junior to think of it as normal. He doesn’t get to experience any other way of living. Junior explains, “But I can’t blame my parents for our poverty because my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit and my world would EXPLODE without them” (11). Alexie uses the metaphor “my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit” to explain how important Junior’s parents are to him, despite the fact that they still live in poverty. He shows his humor in a cartoon to display how his parents would be if they followed their dreams and lived above the poverty line. He realizes that his parents weren’t born into wealth, and they aren’t purposely trying to be poor, so he makes the best of this difficult situation with his humor. Coming home from school can also be a struggle for Junior and his family. He explains a time when his dad doesn’t pick him up from school and he says, “My dad was supposed to pick me up. But he wasn’t sure if he’d have enough gas money. Especially if he was going to stop at the rez casino and play slot machines first. I waited for thirty minutes. Exactly. Then I started walking” (87). Money is scarce in Junior’s household, and his dad, being an alcoholic, is very unpredictable. He draws a cartoon showing the different ways he could get to school, and that consisted of hitchhiking, no gas
Junior clearly states that deaths are common on the rez, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to deal with. Junior loved his grandma dearly, but sadly her life took a turn for the worse. He explains, “In fact, last week she was walking back home from a mini powwow at the Spokane Tribal Community Center, when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver” (157). It took Junior a little while to wrap his head around this tragic event, but he adds that even when she has passed she is a better person than any of them. Although his grandma’s death was unexpected, Junior didn’t show any signs of depression and stayed optimistic throughout the whole process. Although it’s not surprising for Indians to die on the rez, it isn’t as common for those outside the rez, like at Rearden. Junior states, “I’m fourteen years old and I’ve been to forty-two funerals. That’s really the biggest difference between Indians and white people” (199). Deaths are something that Junior has to endure, but it doesn’t get easier going to funeral after funeral. He never intentionally feels sorry for himself, and he uses sarcasm to lighten the mood on dark situations like this one. Ultimately, this is how Junior stays optimistic during times of struggle, like death. Junior has lost many loved ones in his life, and his sister is included. She was someone