Reflection and Analysis: Diary of a Part time Indian

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Sherman Alexie's novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, examines the aspects of life for Native Americans in a post colonial society.  Alexie specifically does this through the diary entries of an adolescent Indian boy named Arnold.  One of the most prevalent aspects throughout Alexie's novel is that of identity formation and confirmation, as well as the struggles that come along with that for an Indian boy growing up in a white-washed world.
From the opening of the novel, it is evident that Arnold wishes to become more than what the rest of his tribe has succumbed to; he wants to break the mold of perpetual impoverishment.  We first witness Arnold’s extreme discontent with his current substantial identity during the first day of class when he opens his textbook to find that it is over thirty years old.  Arnold is so distraught with the obsolete textbook that his “hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie 31).  His feelings are later expanded on when his teacher makes a home visit and explains that  educators were instructed to “beat the Indian out of the kid” in hopes of white-washing them.  This makes Arnold even angrier and more conflicted with his identity.
In is mentioned several times throughout the novel that Arnold is definitely proud of his Spokane heritage, despite his desire to step off of the reservation and into the world to make something of himself.  This idea comes to light when Arnold is in the library with Gordy and finally feels at peace with his undying love for books: “In Wellpinit, I was a freak because I loved books.  In Rearden, I was a joyous freak” (97).  This highlights how Arnold is developing more of his own identity in white society than he could while stuck on the reservation. 
By the end of the novel, there is a clear difference between Arnold’s understanding of his identity in comparison to the opening example provided.  After facing many tragedies and receiving support from all societies he was a part of, Arnold ultimately discovered his true self:  “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian.  I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants.  And to the tribe of basketball players.  And to the tribe of bookworms…” (217).  Arnold goes on to explain that he knew he was finally going to be okay, even after all the tragedies he faced.  This final revelation serves to identify how any marginalized group of persons can break away from the mold forced upon them and seek to ultimately discover their own identity and achieve their true potential.

       
           

Comments

  1. Taylor ScottSeptember 8, 2019 at 7:48 PM

    Noah,

    I like what you have said about breaking out of the molds that society puts on us. Arnold went through so many tough changes, during which he often questioned who he was and who he was supposed to be. Spending too much time in one place can often limit adolescents from being able to explore all of their interests and giftings. I think that this happened to Arnold by staying on the reservation all of his life. In reality, the reservation was a very degrading place to be for his tribe. They had been there for so long with so little resources that no one could really escape the poverty around them. Arnold chose to branch out, while not losing his heritage. Because of this, he was able to experience so much growth and personal success. How would you teach this in your classroom?

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  2. Eva YoussefSeptember 10, 2019 at 7:45 PM

    I really like that you mentioned Arnold being proud of the fact that he is a Spokane. I think because we see Arnold struggle so much with fitting into the white community he put himself in, we forget to see that because he loves his tribe so much, he doesn't know where to find the balance. We see this in the part of the book when Arnold wins the basketball game against his old school. His joy is replaces with guilt and the sadness he feels towards his tribe members. It's good to see that at the end of the book he was able be proud of his Indian side while also embracing all the little parts of him that make him who he is as well.

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