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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian literary analysis essay
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Student NameMs. Buendia
English 9
3 December 2023
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Literary Analysis Essay
On various Native American Reservations, 70% of students dropout of high school, 70%-
80% of adults are classified as unemployed, and 80% of adults suffer from alcoholism, as
indirectly stated by “Hidden America: Children of the Plains.” Since ambitious European
settlers banished Native Americans to small patches of land, oppressing the thriving tribes from
expressing their distinct cultures, Indians of all ages severely struggle to survive physically,
economically, and culturally. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman
Alexie, a young Native American boy, Arnold Spirit (Junior), encounters difficulty diverting
from his Indian community’s ways with a tolling congenital disease and the poverty, alcoholism,
and loss of the reservation his family lives on. Junior demonstrates that striving to reach success
despite hardship and temptation is not rejecting one’s culture, but setting a new precedent of
accomplishment in their community. In the fictional novel, the author employs repetition,
metaphor, and symbolism to develop a style that invokes awe and admiration in the reader for
Junior’s motivation and perseverance to succeed in the hostile environment of the Spokane
Indian Reservation.
Sherman Alexie includes multiple examples of repetition to develop a strong sense of
sympathy for Junior and the numerous hardships he lives amongst in the reader. While
considering his few educational options on the reservation, Junior claims with dismay, “It’s
, another school on the reservation border filled with the poorest Indians and poorer-than-poorest
white kids.” (Alexie, pg.45) The continuous use of the word “poor” emphasizes the severity of
the impoverished circumstances children of all races on and around the reservation struggle in. It
reveals Junior’s slim opportunity to receive a substantial education and thrive in the future,
causing the reader to feel a sense of hopelessness for Junior. Native American reservations are
so brutal, that they are not only “some of the poorest places in America,” (McBirney, paragraph
10) but are the last resort for children who aren’t even Native American, yet experience the same
extreme poverty. While mourning over the loss of his sister, Junior reflects, “I wept and wept
and wept because I… was never going to drink and because I was never going to kill myself and
because I was going to have a better life out in the white world.” (Alexie, pg.217) The
repetition and dramatic tone utilized by the author stresses the overwhelming grief Junior feels
with the infinite loss and hopelessness he must endure as a Native American. It reveals the way
his fellow underachieving Indians limit his enthusiasm for his personal life. In tight-knit
communities, such as Indian reservations, hardship can unite the members as one entity, plagued
by failure and prevented from reaching their full potential in life as a whole. When one member
admits defeat, the other members take advantage of it to excuse their own defeat, creating an
unfortunate, infinite cycle, unless one member stands up to break it. In addition to noting the
potential the sorrowful reservation has to negatively impact Junior, the author uses metaphor to
prove the way it actively breaks him down.
The author's application of metaphor conveys the significance of Junior’s actions in
response to hardship, creating an emotional connection between the reader and Junior. After
respectfully informing his science teacher about petrified wood, and being demeaned by his
teacher and potential friend in return, Junior declares, “I stood there and waited for the rocks to
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