Book: The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian
By Sherman Alexie
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an amazing book. It is about a 14 year old Native American boy named Arnold Spirit, aka Junior. He lives on a poor Indian reservation in Welpinit, Washington. Junior was born with water on his brain and not anything like the other kids on the reservation. Most boys are really big and tough and like to get into fights, but Junior likes to draw, read comic books, and play basketball. Junior's best friends are Rowdy, who is the toughest kid on the reservation, and his dog Oscar. Unfortunately, his parents had to put down Oscar because they couldn't afford to pay for a veterinary care. Junior also has a odd family. Junior's Mom has never left the reservation in her whole life. His dad is an alcoholic and loves basketball. His sister, Mary, ran away with her boyfriend and now lives in a trailer park in Ohio. His Grandmother seems to be the only normal one in the family and gives Junior great advice and is also a great chef
Junior's story begins at school. As Junior's teacher passes out textbooks he looks to his front cover of the book and realizes that his mother used the same textbook when she was his age. Junior gets very angry at this and throws his book at the wall. But his teacher happened to be standing in front of the wall and the book hits him in the face. He gets expelled for this and then he has stay home all day. While sitting on his front porch, his teacher forgives him. They start to relate to one another, and his Teacher tells Junior that he is too smart for this reservation, has lots of potential, and should go to a better school. He tells his parents this and they enroll him in a school called Reardan, a preppy, rich, white school 22 miles from his house. But everyone in the reservation hates him for doing so because they think he is putting down his people by going to a better school. Even his best friend Rowdy beats him up for abandoning him.
While at his new school, things are not going any better then they are at the res. He gets bullied alot in the first week or two but then he have had enough. He punched a bully in the face for calling him Tonto. After he does this, everyone gains respect for him and stops messing with him. He even begins to make friends with the popular kids like Roger and Penelope.
This book is really good but also really sad. I think the main themes/issues are Alcoholism, Poverty and Acceptance
This is a great response and you go into deep detail about the character and his situation. Junior must have had a very hard life starting off with his dog being put down, then the bad schooling, and when he goes to a better school he gets beat up a lot at school and at home. luckily the book ends for the best but it is still a sad book over all. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very strong response, that has lots of great details and comparisons. You used strong evidence to show Junior's struggles throughout the story, like him being bullied by being called ''Tonto''. You also explain how the book involves stereotypes, like Junior being a nerd while everyone around him are big tough guys, and he's more vulnerable, plus he's so different than anyone around him. You wrote a great response, with lots of detail, nice job!
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