I was born with water on the brain.

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 In the Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian it can be quite difficult to focus on just one theme.  The entire book is a wonderful example of a coming-of -age novel, especially in the terms of identity formation.  Throughout the book, Arnold uses satire and humor to describe himself and his family.  The novel starts out with Arnold discussing how he was born with fluid on his brain.  He goes on to basically make fun of himself.  He does this because he has grown up constantly being picked on, and his way of coping with the bad stuff, is to make fun of himself.  To use to humor to try as way to cope with the negative things in his life.  Another example, on pages 7 - 8, he writes about the reason he loves fried chicken so much is because he is a poor Indian child and he does not have adequate nutrition.  But instead of feeling sorry for himself, he turns it into a joke.  "And hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better.  There is nothing better than a chicken leg when you haven't eaten for (approximately) eighteen-and-a-half-hours.  And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God.'" (p. 8) I think that a lot of adolescent children use humor in this way to help themselves deal with the hard times, also at the same time, trying to figure out exactly who they are, as a way to find acceptance within themselves.

  When Arnold decides to leave the rez and go to Reardon, he begins to realize that the bad stuff in his life is actually not something to laugh about.  Tragedies are a constant in his life, and we see as more tragedies happen, the harder time Arnold has in finding the humor and the reason for so many bad things.  "I hoped I could find more cartoons that would help me.  And I hoped I could find more stories that could help me." (p. 172)  Arnold begins to lose hope, but then he realizes that the cartoons are his therapy.  That trying to find the joy and humor in negative situations are the only way he is going to get through the hard times.  By the end of the story Arnold has learned to cope with these tragedies in his own way.  He finds that although he knows he will probably always be exposed to devastation, the cartoons help him cope.  As his identity forms and he becomes more aware of himself and his differences, but it is that discovery of who he really is that guides him to accept himself, his family, and so many tragedies.

Comments

  1. Bekah LongSeptember 5, 2021 at 4:46 PM

    Erin, I loved your perception on Arnold's self deprecating jokes. The pictures and descriptions of everyone and himself help look to back to how we coped with situations in our own lives growing up. I think that his illustrations also help readers visually connect with book and not so blatantly address hard topics. It opens up constructive conversations for teachers and students to have.

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