Jeffrey Williams,

Growing up on the Reservation

The title of this book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian fits it very well, because
it is about the very real feelings and experiences of a boy who is trying to fight his way out of
poverty while still trying to keep his heritage alive. The protagonist's name is Arnold Spirit
Junior he is a young Native American boy growing up on a reservation who aspires to change his
life by leaving the reservation and its traditions behind to go to school in a neighboring town
with white students. this paper, take a look at the cultural impact that Junior feels upon leaving
the reservation as well as the blowback he receives from his people on the reservation that view
him as a traitor to his culture. This paper will also look at the stereotypes that are placed upon the
Native Americans by those of the white culture, though Sherman Alexi does not go too deep in
his book about this stereotyping there are little snippets of it that bear mentioning.

Sherman Alexie was born October 7, 1966, on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit,
Washington. Alexi was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that occurs when an abnormally
large amount of cerebral fluid is contained within the cranial cavity. He had to have brain surgery
when he was only six months old, he was not expected survive and if he did the doctors expected
him to have severe mental disabilities. However, Alexi did survive the surgery with no damage to
his mental faculties. He received his bachelors degree in 1995 from Washington State
University. His first book was a book of short stories and poems which had some success, but the
work is most known for is his award-winning young adult book titled The Absolutely True Diary
of a Part-Time Indian.

Arnold Spirit Junior lived on an Indian reservation near the town of Wellpinit. Like most young
men on the reservation, he attended school there and was thoroughly excited about beginning
high school. Being born with a congenital birth defect hydrocephalus, Arnold spent most of his
youth reading while the other young boys on the reservation were out roughhousing and playing
sports. So, it goes without saying that Arnold was looking forward to his first year of high school
and the many academic adventures he would pursue there, he was most looking forward to
studying geometry. On his first day class, he was given a book, and he opens it up and discovers
that the very same book that hes using is one his mother used 20 years prior. My school and my
tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study the same damn books are parents studied. That is
absolutely the saddest thing in the world (Alexie 25) At this point Arnolds spirit is crushed he
realizes due to the poverty on the reservation that the school itself cannot even afford new books
once a generation. He begins to question how his life is going to be. Will he doomed to repeat the
same cycle as his parents? Much like in the story The marigolds from our course work during
week three where Lizabeth sees herself as well as her family and neighbors from a new
perspective shes jolted and recognizing the poverty of her father. (Manthei week 3), it is at this
point that Arnold realizes that he is stuck in a terrible cycle that has played out all his life
throughout all the families on the reservation. Arnold was so enraged by being given a 20-year-
old book that his mother had used that he threw it striking his favorite teacher Mr. P in the face
and breaking his nose resulting in being suspended from school for one week. Arnolds teacher
Mr. P comes to see Arnold. When Mr. P pulled up into the drive, Arnold had visions of him with
a hitman or some other dire consequence of the act of violence Arnold committed against him.
But instead, Mr. P came to explain to Arnold how the teachers were taught to teach the Indian
children when Mr. P first started teaching on the reservation. When I first started teaching here,
we were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child. We were not trying to kill Indian people we
were trying to kill Indian culture. (Alexie 29) In lecture seven of this course we discussed the
book Tree Girl and about the tragic and atrocious act committed in Guatemala that professor
Manthei spoke of on how they were trying to kill the indigenous population's culture. Mr. P tells
Arnold he is the smartest kid in school and convinces Arnold that he should leave the reservation
school and go to high school in Reardan. Arnold speaks to his parents, and they decide that it
would be best for him to go to school off the reservation. But the blowback that Arnold receives
from his peers was something that Arnold feared the most, even more than leaving to study
amongst white people.

Arnold had expected the stereotypical view of him as an Indian he grew up with being
stereotyped all his life, he learned this very early in life when he had to go to the Indian health
services on the reservation for dental work. Arnold felt this bias firsthand that day in the dentist
chair. The Indian health service funded major dental work only once a year. So, I had to have all
ten extra teeth pulled in one day, and whats more is the white Dentist believe the Indians only
felt half as much pain as white people. So only gave us half the Novocain(Alexie 3) This is one
of the first cases of stereotyping seen in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The
stereotype that Indians can withstand pain much better than white people so, therefore, they only
need half the pain medicine that a typical white man would need.

The other form of stereotyping that Arnold has to deal with, comes from his people on the
reservation. When he decides to go to school in Reardan Arnold experiences racial stereotyping
from his people, we see this when he states to Gordy his friend from Reardan high school. the
people at home call me an apple. They think your fruit or something Gordy asked. "no I said they
call me an apple because they think Im red on the outside and white on the inside. (Alexie 109)
His people think Arnold is a traitor because he is trying to better his life by going to school off
the reservation we see this theme of cultural bias and racism throughout the book from both his
people and the citizens of Reardan.

Another character in the book that we see being stereotyped very much is Arnolds best friend
Rowdy. The connection that is most easy to make between Rowdys character and other
characters that weve studied so far in this course would be Jim from Rebel Without a Cause.
Throughout the book, Rowdy rages against the system, white people, himself, the world itself.
Rowdy reminds is very similar to Holden he is cynical, disillusioned, frustrated, and disgusted
with much of the world around him. (Manthei, week 11) Though unlike Holden with his
depression Rowdys anger is how he expresses his disgust with the world around him. Rowdy is
the stereotypical angry teen that is perceived so much throughout much young adult literature,
Arnold describes Rowdy as being born angry stating that Rowdy got into his first fight in
kindergarten. He took on three first-graders during a snowball fight because one of them had
thrown a piece of ice (Alexie 15) stating that Rowdy even once hit a teacher in his anger,
Arnold states that Rowdy would fight anyone boys, girls, men and women. Arnold stated, Hell,
he fought the weather once he would throw wild punches at the rain honestly. (Alexie 15)
Throughout the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian we see many different
aspects of adolescence, everything from Arnolds shy demeanor slowly blooming and coming
out in Reardons high school as an athlete as well as an academic.
Sherman Alexie did a great job with his award-winning book The Absolutely True Diary of A
Part-Time Indian, in bringing to light the social issues that are faced by Native American people
on the reservation even today. Though adolescence and all cultures face many trials and
tribulations as they grow from a child to an adult those faced by the Native Americans that live
on the reservation are even more challenging. The young people on the reservation must deal
with alcoholism, drug use, as well as inadequate supplies in their schools. Sherman Alexie does
an excellent job in bringing these trials the reservation youth to life.

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown
and Co., 2007. Print.

Manthei, Jennifer week 3

Manthei, Jennifer week 11