ipl-logo

Themes In 'The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian'

992 Words4 Pages

The protagonist from the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie had boundaries, just like you and I. In my opinion, transcending boundaries is one of the most important themes throughout this story. The rez, stereotypes, and poverty all created boundaries for him. They tried holding him back and keep him stuck there. Arnold Spirit Jr. Wanted to surpass them. He wanted to be the Indian boy who broke free of all the boundaries that his surroundings set up for him. He knew he had to get out of the Spokane Indian Reservation, he knew that and is math teacher knew that. Arnold was born with hydrocephalus. He knew he was different but he didn't let anything get on the way of him wanting to get somewhere in life. He didn't let his dreams be dreams. He worked hard to make his dreams reality despite of all the things that tried to hold him back.
The Spokane Indian Reservation presented our protagonist with …show more content…

He knew he didn't want to be stuck in the rez for the rest if his life. He went to Rearden knowing there was going to be many things that got in the way. Arnold family lived in poverty. There was days when his dad couldn't take him to school because they had no gas money. That didn't stop him. He’d walk to school and occasionally someone would give him a life to school. This was something his peers at Rearden weren't used to. They never had to walk to school because they didn't have gas money but that didn't stop Arnold. His family being in poverty made him an outcast at his new school. Whenever he’d go out with his white friends he couldn't do many things like his friends could because he didn't have the money to do so. Rearden being a school for wealthy whites didn't stop the poor Indian boy. His white friends were very understanding of the fact that he was poor and didn't treat him like anything less after they found

Show More
Related

  • Absolutely True Diary Part Time Indian Analysis

    334 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel,Absolutely True Diary Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Axle,Arnold spirit, the protagonist, is a nerdy kid with health problems. Arnold has big hands and a big head that many people make fun of him for. Also, he is so smart that he has to act dumb so that Indians won’t know how smart he is. ‘’like he said in the book that I have to look dumb near them so that they will now that i don 't belong’’. Arnold has health problems because he said that it happens to him in the beginning of the book.

    Read More

  • How Did John Adams Contribute To Society

    965 Words  | 4 Pages

    He wanted to be successful in life for himself and his

    Read More

  • Benedict Arnold: Hero Or Traitor

    934 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the United States today, the name Benedict Arnold is a known synonym for “traitor.” During most of the war, he impressed both the British and the Americans with his skills and strengths. He was once a Patriot, but he is now known as one of the most cowardly traitors of America. He won many significant battles for the Americans, but that does not mean that he is a hero. He turned to the British for his own selfish reasons and his actions were unfair to the American people.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Realization In The Secret Life Of Bees

    1369 Words  | 6 Pages

    Arnold was smarter than most kids at his school on the reservation and was told by one of his teachers that he needed to leave the “rez” or he would end up killing himself. As he arrived at the new school it doesn't start out typically well but he knows that overtime it was the best option for him. “It was courageous of her to leave the basement and move to Montana. She went searching for her dreams, and she didn't find them, but she made the attempt.

    Read More

  • Themes Of Junior In The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    Have you ever lost someone you loved or was important in your life? Well Junior has, he has lost many people in his life. He has gone to a total of 42 funerals in his lifetime and he is only 14. You will find out more about Junior in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Most of the people Junior has lost were due to alcohol.

    Read More

  • Spirit In Me And The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

    747 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. Junior and the speaker were facing life the hard way because of the effects of alcohol.in the first story junirs family was being targeted by alcohole one by one becsue the rezervation was a place where evyone got got drunk and died because of that or they were killed by people who were drunk. “We’d lost my grandmother and Eugen

    Read More

  • Essay On The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

    735 Words  | 3 Pages

    “In the middle of a crazy drunk life, you have to hang on the good and sober moments tightly.” (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie page 216) This is a quote from the book that shows how Junior learns how to appreciate the good moments in life. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie the character Junior faces problems caused by drinking. The book starts off with his family living on the Indian reservation suffering from poverty and death.

    Read More

  • Wes Moore Decision Making

    633 Words  | 3 Pages

    He was so used to his leisurely household, being able to skip out of school and do whatever he wanted all day long. After his final attempt at ditching Valley Forge Wes realized all that was left for him to do was attempt to change himself and show his mother what he was capable of. This is the best decision that the author Wes made throughout the entire

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

    1121 Words  | 5 Pages

    In his book the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie portrays a teenage boy, Arnold Spirit (junior) living in white man’s world, and he must struggle to overcome racism and stereotypes if he must achieve his dreams. In the book, Junior faces a myriad of misfortunes at his former school in ‘the rez’ (reservation), which occurs as he struggles to escape from racial and stereotypical expectations about Indians. For Junior he must weigh between accepting what is expected of him as an Indian or fight against those forces and proof his peers and teachers wrong. Therefore, from the time Junior is in school at reservation up to the time he decides to attend a neighboring school in Rearden, we see a teenager who is facing tough consequences for attempting to go against the racial stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Other Wes Moore

    524 Words  | 3 Pages

    Out of all the confusion in his life and not knowing where to fit Wes’ grades began to drop and he started to become unconfident of his abilities. His mother started to threaten him that she will send him to military school. Although he did not take is seriously, his friend Justin did. Justing advise him to concentrate in school.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Influence On Education

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    He states, “I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky. I was trying to save my life.” Alexie first introduces this point when he expresses how life was like growing up on a Native American reservation and his desire to succeed.

    Read More

  • Wes Moore Influence

    493 Words  | 2 Pages

    The school he was attending was a private school, therefore impacting his image in his neighborhood. “I was becoming too ‘rich’ for the kids from the neighborhood and too ‘poor’ for the kids at school. I had forgotten how to act naturally, thinking way too much in each situation and getting tangled in the contradictions between my two worlds. ”(pg.53) With this contradiction eating away at Wes’ educational integrity, his grades and general attendance began to slip into a state of be unsatisfactory.

    Read More

  • Banned Book Research Paper

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book focuses on a young boy named Arnold Spirit who shows persistence and bravery as he defies all odds and strides towards a happier more successful life than his parents and ancestors before him. Arnold is a bright, inspiring young boy who grows up with little fortune and is destined to continue down the path of a poor, misunderstood Indian. However, his fate changes for the better when a spark lights the fire inside of him to strive to pursue a better, more flourishing life as he makes an extraordinary decision to transfer to an all-white school for a worthier education. However, the drastic change of schools puts a burden on his family to get him to school as well as leads to extreme bullying from not just kids at his new school but also from his fellow Indians in his hometown. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I learned that it doesn 't matter what your situation is and what you are expected to accomplish in your lifetime or what standards have already been set for you because you can be whoever you want to be with hard work, ambition, and confidence.

    Read More

  • Who Is Connor Lassiter's Suicide In Unwind

    577 Words  | 3 Pages

    He strived to get good grades, and even went as far as bringing his mother flowers, knowing full well it would make this process a living hell for them. Connor completely disregards authority and disrespects the people in charge of his life, even though he understands that this could ultimately be his

    Read More

  • Comparing The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven

    571 Words  | 3 Pages

    Writer Sherman Alexie has a knack of intertwining his own problematic biographical experience with his unique stories and no more than “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” demonstrates that. Alexie laced a story about an Indian man living in Spokane who reflects back on his struggles in life from a previous relationship, alcoholism, racism and even the isolation he’s dealt with by living off the reservation. Alexie has the ability to use symbolism throughout his tale by associating the title’s infamy of two different ethnic characters and interlinking it with the narrator experience between trying to fit into a more society apart from his own cultural background. However, within the words themselves, Alexie has created themes that surround despair around his character however he illuminates on resilience and alcoholism throughout this tale.

    Read More

More about Themes In 'The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian'

Open Document