Post-colonialism through characterization

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In Sherman Alexie's, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", we can see elements of post-colonialism through various forms during the entire short story. He hints at post-colonialism quite a few times because he knows how much colonialism has affected his ancestors, and how it affects Native American till this day. He wants everyone reading to understand that because of colonialism most Native Americans aren’t given the same opportunity’s as others in the world; and the majority of the time never get off the reservation. Many times, we are able to see what post-colonialism has done to the Native American culture overall, but in this short story we can see it through Sherman Alexie’s characters.
          One of the first characters Alexie uses to show us the effects of post- colonialism is Arnold's parents. We are able to see how much they have struggled in their lives, and how much the past has truly affected them as people. Here it states, “They are constantly scraping up enough money to pay for gas, to get me lunch money, to buy me new pair of jeans, and a few new shirts” (119). From this quote we are able to see that they are severely poor and barely have any money to support themselves or their child. This is one of the major affects post-colonialism has on Native Americans because it left them with little to no chance to make it off the reservation. 
Another character that Alexie gives us is Arnold's friend Rowdy. Rowdy doesn’t have the best home life either. In fact, his father is a raging drunk and beats him whenever he has the chance. This leaves Rowdy very angry and unloved, which causes him to think negatively about life like his father. Here it states, “Rowdy spun around and shoved me. Don’t touch me, you retarded fag!” (52). In this quote we can see Rowdy has turned violent and nasty towards Arnold because his friend decided to go to another school. This is a great example of how post-colonialism has already affected Rowdy because he is already stuck in his ways. The thought of another Indian succeeding in the world instead of being stuck on the reservation enraged him. This is because Rowdy has let his father, and everyone on the reservation tell him he is going to fail no matter what he does in life. The reason he feels this way is because that’s all everyone around him knows, they were taught to fail and unfortunately are passing it on from one generation to the next.
          Overall there are many different elements in this short story that scream post-colonialism, but the way Alexie uses his characters to express this is powerful. He wants the reader to understand what post-colonialism means but he also wants them to feel how it has affected the characters in the story as well. Through his characters we can see that post-colonialism is still affecting people from the past and has made its way to the next generation of Native Americans.

Comments

  1. NoahGoodwinSeptember 8, 2019 at 7:05 PM

    Carter,
    I enjoy your mention of Rowdy's anger towards Junior and aligning it with post-colonial theory by identifying how he is already stuck on that perpetual cycle of resentment. That was the part of the novel that really made it sink in how helpless and withdrawn most of the tribe feels.

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  2. Kiara McVaySeptember 10, 2019 at 7:31 AM

    Carter,
    I enjoyed reading your response, the post colonial theory was really devestating for the native americans - I feel like reading this book made the issue more aware for me. Also, the example of the text that you gave to go along with how it affected his friend Rowdy showed why Arnold struggled with finding his true self or doubted himself because of the harmful things he would hear in different environments.

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