The Absolute Truth- Kesi Cox

By -



The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a great novel that displays the ugly truth of struggles that some adolescents go through in life and how they have to figure out a way to overcome each of them. My reaction to reading this novel at first was sort of a shock due to how the author is direct with the information he provides, but later appreciating the directness.  In the novel Alexie doesn’t hold anything back, and I think this allows readers to connect with the story better as if we are experiencing some of the struggles ourselves.
As a reader, I personally connect with the novel whenever it mentions things about addiction because that was an underlying issue in the household that I grew up in, so I know firsthand the affects that this can have on a person’s life and those that’s a part of their life. “There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away” (Alexie 107) happens to be one of my favorite quotes from the novel because I believe that we live in a world that is so quick to stereotype an individual based on their race, social class, or background; but this isn’t possible with pain because everyone has to experience at some point of life. Whether we deal with pain by using drugs, alcohol, work, school, or other things I think of it as being an item that keeps the balance within the world.
Overall I think this novel is perfect for adolescent development because it allows them to realize that they’re not alone with their own struggles, and could possibly help them figure out a way to cope and deal with them. I believe it would also allow adolescents to appreciate the simple things in life that many of them have complaints of such as food, parents that stay on them because they only want what is best for them, or overall just having an opportunity to do great things with life. This novel gives hope to any adolescent facing struggles whether it is concerning race, gender, or ethnicity that there are options for a better life.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 13, 2017 at 9:49 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 13, 2017 at 9:50 AM

    I agree about how there are sterotypes out there for everyone and everything. I firsthand experienced people who would tease me for being Asian and doing stupid gestures like squinting there eyes when in reality my eyes were bigger than theirs! Pain is bound to happen in someone's life since this is a fallen world.--chelsea chan

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more