Bibliography
Alexie, Sherman. 2007. Ill. By Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-time Indian.
New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316219303
Brief Summary Plot
Fourteen-year-old
Junior (Arnold), a Spokane Indian, lives on the reservation in Washington state
with his family. He was born with several disabilities including hydrocephalus,
water on the brain, which cause him to have seizures. His father is an
alcoholic and his mother is a recovering alcoholic. Due to his many
disabilities, Junior is a target on the reservation, “rez” as he refers to it.
He is constantly bullied. He finds consolation by isolating himself and drawing
cartoons, which he is quite good at. His only friend is Rowdy, whose home life
consists of physical abuse. During Junior’s sophomore year an altercation
occurs which injures a teacher. The teacher sees potential in Junior and knows
that his only chance at life is to leave the reservation. During this
conversation, Junior’s teacher convinces him that his escape from life on the
“rez” is to attend the all white, wealthy school twenty-two miles away in
Reardan. On the reservation, everyone sees Junior as a traitor to his Native
American heritage, including his best friend Rowdy. Junior must find balance
between his new school, which views him as an outcast, and still identify with
his culture. As Junior encounters hardships, he comes to understand and see a
better life in his future, one where he belongs to many tribes.
Critical Analysis
Sherman Alexie holds nothing back in his brutally honest
autobiographical storyline of modern day life on a reservation. He masterfully
tackles issues that are emotionally charged such as being labeled a traitor to
his culture, integrating into the white man’s world, bullying, alcoholism,
death, poverty, and racial oppression. His strength in writing is his honesty
and his ability to create humor out of hardship, which enable him to endure.
This book is written from the point of view of the main
character, Junior. Due to his many medical issues, Junior is an observer of the
world. He is an outsider and his observations are personal reflections in which
the reader has the advantage of looking into his personal thoughts. One
observation Junior has is when characters are introduced throughout the book, Junior
uses his ability as a cartoonist to illustrate the people and the encounters he
has with them. One example would be when Rowdy, Junior’s best friend, feels
betrayed by Junior’s decision to attend another high school. Junior’s cartoon
illustrations show an irate Rowdy with thought bubbles saying, “You suck” and
“You white lover.” An entertaining illustration of Junior’s grandmother, whom
he loves dearly and is respected by all on the reservation, shows her in
basketball shoes because, as Junior says, “She’s got mad skills.” Junior
includes a picture of himself that depicts him as half-white and half-Indian.
The Indian side has statements such as “a family history of cancer and diabetes,”
“no watch, its skin-thirty,” and “glad garbage book bag.” On the white side
junior is depicted as a “positive role model,” “hope,” and “a bright future.”
As Junior would say, “I draw because I want to talk to the world, and I want
the world to pay attention to me.” His depiction of the interaction he has with
each person in his life is his outlet for expressing himself.
The story is set in modern day and takes place on the “rez,”
short for reservation and Reardan, the wealthy, white town where Junior has
opted to attend high school. Junior describes his home of Wellpinit, the
reservation, as “located approximately one million miles north of Important and
two billion miles west of Happy.” While at school in Reardan, he regards
himself as “ half-Indian.”
The plot centers on Junior’s identity from “retard” on the
“rez” to an offensive name he was called at Reardan that combines a buffalo
with another race. Junior/Arnold does not belong to either setting. He has been
shunned by his own people and discriminated against because of the color of his
skin. He is seen as white by his culture and Indian by the white community. His
only outlet for expression is to draw.
Aside from the adversity that Junior encounters in the book,
other issues that are typical of adolescents are also discussed through the
text. Some of the issues include falling in love, friendship, sexual
experimentation, acceptance, and peer pressure.
There are very few positive cultural markers in regard to
text. Mr. Alexie approaches all the stereotypical cultural markers regarding
Native Americans quite frankly and at times a little unsettling, but always
with a sense of humor. Cultural markers for food include Indian fry bread and
salmon mush. Celebrations included the annual Labor Day powwow celebration,
which included war dancing, singing, and storytelling.
Cultural markers for
religious practices would be the funeral services for Junior’s beloved
grandmother. All in the community experience the tradition of Indian funerals.
A funeral brings all Native Americans together. Cultural markers for physical
attributes include references to skin tone.
With humor, Sherman Alexie tackles some very serious stereotypes
that negatively portray Native Americans. Topics, which were addressed
throughout the book, include poverty, socio economic status, racial discrimination,
death, alcoholism, family abuse, and oppression.
In addition to a stellar story are the illustrations that
were created by Ellen Forney. The black and white creations are included as a
reflection of Junior’s inner thoughts and feelings. Each illustration captures
with wit the tragic reality of Junior’s world. The illustrations hold just as
much importance as the text. The text and illustrations are a perfect
compliment to each other.
Cultural markers within the text would not be considered
“authentic” as much as they are reflections of people’s perception of Native
American stereotypes. Examples of these types of stereotypes include Junior’s
initiation into Reardan’s high school. In the illustration white-cloaked people
with no identifying facial features surround him. These characters are using
very offensive terms in regard to Native Americans. Another example would be an illustration of
Junior running down the basketball court extremely agitated wearing only a buckskin
over his lower extremities. There is an illustration of Junior’s dad, an
alcoholic, stating” I’m only an alcoholic when I get drunk.” The picture that
made the most impression on me shows Junior and Rowdy holding hands jumping
into Turtle Lake. The caption reads, “Boys can hold hands until they turn
nine.” This picture stood out against all the others because it did not reflect
the cartoonish feel of all the other illustrations. There was a genuine sense
of freedom and abandonment from the trappings of their everyday existence, an
escape.
The themes included in this story include identity, hope,
love, racial stereotypes, friendship and death. Junior must come to terms that
he is not just one person who associates with one culture, but he has evolved
and can be a part of many tribes. He understands that even the smallest amount
of hope can get you through a tragedy or situation. It was important for Junior
to make new friends, but also reconcile with his only true friend, Rowdy. A
friend, who may have many faults of his own, but understands Junior better than
most.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I would laugh out loud at
Junior’s comments and thoughts. I would
recommend this book for high school students due to the sexual content within
the book and language used. This book has a place within libraries and
classrooms. It is my hope that its message is found by those who feel lost or
without hope.
Awards
American Indian Youth Literature Award, 2008 Winner
American Booksellers Book Sense Book of the Year (ABBY),
2008 Honor
California Young Reader Medal, 2010 Winner
Mind the Gap Award, 2008 Winner
Delaware Diamonds, 2009 Winner
Odyssey Award, 2009 Winner
Pacific Northwest Book Award, 2008 Winner
Review Excerpts
School Library Journal
reviewed September 1, 2007: “Exploring Indian identity,
both self and tribal, Alexie's first young adult novel is a
semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian
from Wellpinit, WA. The many characters, on and off the rez, with whom he has dealings,
are portrayed with compassion and verve, particularly the adults in his
extended family. Forney's simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within the story
and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior. Reluctant readers can even
skim the pictures and construct their own story based exclusively on Forney's
illustrations. The teen's determination to both improve himself and overcome
poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a
positive message in a low-key manner. Alexie's tale of self-discovery is a first
purchase for all libraries.” - Chris
Shoemaker, New York Public Library
Publisher’s Weekly reviewed
August 20, 2007: “Screenwriter, novelist and
poet, Alexie bounds into YA with what might be a Native American equivalent of
Angela's Ashes, a coming-of-age story so well observed that its very rootedness
in one specific culture is also what lends it universality, and so emotionally
honest that the humor almost always proves painful. Presented as the diary of
hydrocephalic 14-year-old cartoonist and Spokane Indian Arnold Spirit Jr., the
novel revolves around Junior's desperate hope of escaping the reservation. As
he says of his drawings, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and
floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." He transfers to a public
school 22 miles away in a rich farm town where the only other Indian is the
team mascot. Although his parents support his decision, everyone else on the
rez sees him as a traitor, an apple ("red on the outside and white on the
inside"), while at school most teachers and students project stereotypes
onto him: "I was half Indian in one place and half white in the
other." Readers begin to understand Junior's determination as, over the
course of the school year, alcoholism and self-destructive behaviors lead to
the deaths of close relatives. Unlike protagonists in many YA novels who
reclaim or retain ethnic ties in order to find their true selves, Junior must
separate from his tribe in order to preserve his identity. Jazzy syntax and
Forney's witty cartoons examining Indian versus White attire and behavior
transmute despair into dark humor; Alexie's no-holds-barred jokes have the
effect of throwing the seriousness of his themes into high relief.”
Connections
Students will discuss stereotypes of Native Americans.
Students can write about a time they felt like an outsider,
outcast, or different. How did they handle the situation?
Select quotes from the book – ask students for their
interpretation.
Students can choose five adjectives to describe Junior and
give an example from the book where he displayed that quality.
References
Publishers Weekly. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time
Indian.” Publishersweekly.com
(accessed October 21, 2015)
TWU Library Database – Books In Print
(accessed October 21, 2015)
TWU
Library Database - Children’ Literature Comprehensive Database
(accessed October 21, 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment