Blog #6 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian pp. 1-53

In pages 1 through 53 of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we are introduced to the character of Junior, a young Indian teenage boy growing up on a reservation dealing with the awkward stages of life as well as the difficulties of being an Indian. Junior begins the story explaining his birth defect and how that affected his childhood, causing him to have frequent seizures, a lisp, and a stutter. This lead to him becoming the class ridicule including name calling and regular beatings. Consequently, Junior became an introvert and an avid cartoonist making it his dream to become a rich artist. In these chapters, Junior also talks about how being poor has played a significant role in his life causing him to lose his best friend, his dog Oscar. Additionally, these chapters talks about Junior's best friend Rowdy who he also views as his protector due to Junior's scrawny size and constant bullying. Junior and Rowdy have a strong bond and many things in common such as their love for comics and cartoons. Junior also recalls an incident in which his frustration caused by an outdated textbook led him to throw the book at his teacher. Despite the trouble he made, the conversation with Mr. P following the incident opened Junior's eyes to how restricting the reservation was, particularly holding him back from his dreams because of the lack of proper education. Junior realized if he wanted to succeed he needed to get out of the harmful and constraining environment of the reservation which only resulted in bringing him pain and discouraging his sense of hope.

So far, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been such an entertaining and fast read. It pulled me in from the very beginning with the sarcastic nature of the tone and the comical sketches placed throughout the chapters. I love that it is so different from typical books required for school reading in that it has themes present which are extremely relatable for students our age. The story has themes of hopes and dreams, friendships, family problems, and making difficult sacrifices which I think not only we as students but everyone can relate to. I also really enjoy the flow of the writing and how much of Junior's character and personality comes through Alexie's writing. In addition, I appreciate that despite the apparent struggles Junior is facing, the story is told through in a humorous way but it also doesn't lose focus of the serious problems it is trying to get across such as the discrimination against Indians and the inadequacy of education. Alexie also tells the story in a way where you can grow and face the experiences with Junior's character. Considering it is told in somewhat of a "diary" format, the experiences are told very vividly and all of Junior's first reactions and feelings are easy to connect with.