Austin Jehle
Ms. Mulvaney
ELA 4
10 January 2023
Analysis Essay
Depending on how an author goes about writing a story it can develop their themes in different ways based on the interactions of their characters and the conflicts that they have along the way. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie one of the many themes that are developed in the story is Hope. The theme of hope plays a big part in the story since Junior, who is the main character, is constantly moving forward in order to find hope in spite of his bleak circumstances. Throughout the novel the themes Hope and dreams are developed by the multiple conflicts that Junior is faced with on the reservation and at Reardan.
The first time the theme Hope was
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When Junior decides to go to Reardan to get a better education thanks to the talk that he and Mr.P had, he decides to tell his best friend Rowdy. Which does not end their friendship, since Rowdy feels like Junior decides to abandon him. When he tells Rowdy that he plans on leaving Rowdy yells “You always thought you were better than me”(Alexie,52). So while Junior was trying to leave to follow his dreams and get a better education. Rowdy thought he was leaving because Junior thought he was better than him and was trying to get rid of him. On one hand Junior had the dream of getting a better life by going to Reardan and on the other he had the hope that He and Rowdy would be best friends forever. Life is full of decisions and sometimes when you choose to do something for a dream you might end up losing hope and vice versa. Overall life is a delicate balancing act where the weight of a choice can only be felt once you take it, which could tip the scale in an unfortunate way. And that is what happened to Junior when he thought “I had to stand eventually, and when I did, I knew that my best friend had become my worst enemy”(Alexie,53). Some hopes and dreams come true while others are not as fortunate and then they either die of or get replaced by new …show more content…
Now some people might see that and then say what's the point then of having them. The point to having those hopes and dreams is that it gives something for you to strive for , something that gives you a direction to follow in this chaotic world. Take Junior's dream of becoming a famous cartoonist as an example, while he may or may not achieve this goal, it gave him a direction to start in. If he did not have this aspiration to better his life and chase a goal of becoming a cartoonist He never would have left the reservation which has caused him so much pain and suffering . Junior says “I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats”(Alexie). That is where the dream of becoming a cartoonist started for Junior. Since he uses cartoons to express and quell his anger and other emotions that he faces on a daily basis. Every single one of your hopes and dreams will evolve and change through your lives. Some might not lead you to what you thought you wanted, but instead down a different path that leads you to a new hope or dream. Others might lead directly to your hope or they might even just dissipate overtime and nothing becomes of it. In Junior's story we never learn if he does become a famous cartoonist, what we do know is that dream has not changed through the story and it has
Mei Edgar Grade 8 Language 5/29/2023 The Power of Resilience The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties is resilience. In the novel “The Absolutely True-Diary of a part-Time Indian”, by Sherman Alexie, resilience is an important theme in the book because it is what saves people from falling back down and shattering into pieces. Throughout the whole book, resilience is continuously achieved and it’s what gives people the hope to continue and never give up. To find one’s self, resilience must be achieved to rise above all labels placed upon one.
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).
The surprise death of Junior’s sister was an event that brought Junior and Rowdy together. “He was my best friend, and I needed him…… I looked at Rowdy and he was crying hard now” (Alexie 27). Even with everything they had gotten through of their relationship, they still needed each other because they both lost a sister. After the school year was over, Rowdy went to Junior’s house to play some basketball. This was their first talk in a while.
Kaya Murray Mr. Rodriguez Academic Literacy April 21 2023 The Impact of Poverty Poverty is cultivated into the next generations, which can cause many to be negatively impacted. This is seen in the young adult contemporary novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie. This story is based in Washington in both a Spokane reservation and the Reardan school from the point of view of 14 year old Arnold Spirit Junior. The narrator Junior offers many examples of how he and other Spokane tribe members are at a disadvantage compared to their white peers.
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
Junior was constantly bullied while going to school on the reservation. One time, the Andrus brothers were picking on him and Junior said,”All three of them shoved me to and fro. They were playing catch with me” (Alexie 21). This was a common occurrence on the reservation for Junior, and it got to the point where he could not take it anymore. As a result, he convinced Rowdy to go with him to shave off the Andrus brothers hair which they have been growing their whole life.
Terence Baraka Mr. Rodriguez Academic Lit. 21 April 2023 Title Opportunities come and go, but those who take advantage of those opportunities will always be the ones to succeed. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a young adult fiction novel that explores the theme of opportunity and success.
‘So what?’ ‘So you want to shoot some hoops?’” (Alexie 228). This also supports my reason because originally Rowdy didn’t like that Junior was leaving the reservation to be in the better school. This shows Rowdy coming to accept him for leaving the reservation.
When Junior leaves the rez, his friend Rowdy betrays him and does not like him anymore. Rowdy betrays Junior and does not like him as much anymore because he sees leaving the rez as an act of betrayal. Junior gets picked on at his new white school outside of the rez. Junior had to fight his way out of bullying and punch the “alpha”. People underestimated him and his abilities.
Junior shows Rowdy that this isn't true and he can share his feelings with Junior because Rowdy knows Junior won't judge
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
Junior feels isolated when he leaves Rowdy to go to Reardan because Junior has no one else to depend on but Rowdy. For example: “Today at school, I was really missing Rowdy, so I walked over to the computer lab, took a digital photo of my smiling face and e-mailed it to him. A few minutes later, he e-mailed me a digital photo of his bare ass.” (Alexie 130) . This shows how isolated Junior feels when he leaves Rowdy.
When Junior gets assigned to guard Rowdy in the basketball game he is nervous because they haven’t talked since Junior decided to leave the Reservation and completely changed. In the rematch against Wellpinit, Junior is nervous because he is facing the team that he used to be a part of. When Junior finally encounters Rowdy for the first time he says:“‘I'm guarding you,’ I said. ‘What?’
pg 52. In this scene from the book you see Junior who cares so much about his past and his best friend. His identity is rooted in his past. At the same time, Junior is trying to tell Rowdy that he, Junior, needs more opportunity than what he can accomplish on the rez.
This is unusual for both the reservation and Junior since this can be seen by many people as him being a traitor. But, this doesn’t stop him from missing the opportunity to get a better education in a white town. Junior wishes to have a better education, "I want to go to Reardan, I said" (Alexie, 45). The quote shows that he's learned that he can't get the best education while staying on the reservation. He wants to be different from everyone else but in a positive way.