Arnold Spirit Analysis

Arnold Spirit, a small kid who has an abnormal amount of “liquid” in his brain explains his story of how he escaped the reserve. The story revolves around the boy named Arnold, or Junior, and explains how he was born with many physical birth defects such as being hydrocephalic, and continues on how he was born into a small Indian reservation. Through an inspirational talk with one of his teachers, Junior decides that he’s going to try to leave the reserve for a better life in the future. Throughout Junior’s journey he becomes more independent, mature about the concept of life, and motivated. Junior at the beginning of the story is shown to be very weak, fragile, and dependent on his best friend Rowdy. Junior depends on Rowdy for physical protection against bullies, as well as his own personal problems. “I think Rowdy might be the most important person in my life. Maybe more important than my family. Can your best friend be more important than your family?”

In the beginning of the story he seems to put almost no thought into his life, and mainly stays at home drawing. After a talk with Mr. P, his math teacher, his motivation to get off the reserve suddenly piqued. From that point, he showed great perseverance for little tasks in his life. This is shown when Junior tries with great effort to collect as much money as he can during the donation effort even though he was attacked. “Although at the end all I was able to scratch up was one nickel, it was still worth it.”

Throughout the novel The Absolute True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Junior’s adventure helps him ultimately become a better person. He now realizes to value the things he owns in his life, and is more determined to make a change in his life. Although some of these changes were triggered through unfortunate events, all of them ultimately helped Junior become a better