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An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

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There are multiple factors that are a part of an individual’s growth, their environment being one of them. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian displays how a person’s setting affects the amount of growth they make. Junior, the narrator decides to leave the reservation, embarking on a journey full of discrimination and bullying, which leads to Junior finding his true self. Through the setting and character of Junior, Sherman Alexie proves that a person can grow if they are in an environment that fosters hope.
Before Junior goes to school at Reardan, he attended school in the reservation. In the reservation he would constantly live with a negative mindset about life. In the story Junior mentions that his father keeps his saxophone clean in hopes of playing his saxophone one day. Junior states, “we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are” (13). His belief of Indians never being allowed any choices or opportunities in life shows how negative his outlook is on life. On Junior’s first day of school at Reardan, his father tried to give him encouragement, and Junior …show more content…

Junior grows from a pessimist, hopeless Indian boy to a motivated, positive individual because of the change he decided to make in his life. Changing environments to view personal growth is seen today as well. As reported in, “Going to College: Close to Home Vs. Leaving the Nest”, “Entering into a new environment is a big component of the growth and personal development that students go through during their college experience, says Greene.” Meaning that students like being away from familiar things because it them helps to be more independent in facing problems, and learning from them on your

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