English 325: Blog Post 7 Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

For this week’s blog post I will be discussing the novel “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” The author Sherman Alexie does a great job of integrating some of his own life events on the reservation into this text. Having firsthand experience makes for better details when describing the reservation life. He did a very good job in explaining from a young male’s perspective how alcohol takes over people’s lives; including his own. He also did a fantastic job in describing Junior’s family situation, the part when Junior explains how his father chose not to booze to be able to give him 5$ shows that his family does care. This is also shown when his family gives full support in the decision to attend Reardon High School instead of going to school on the reservation. The reason that this was such a big part of the novel because it wasn’t just Junior taking scrutiny from the whole reservation for being a “sellout” it was his family as well. However, his parents cared for him so much that they stood by him. This is a great part of the novel for students to read, understand and analyze. It will show kids that even though it may be hard decision to go against the grain of what your friends, family and neighborhood do that you have to do what is best for your future. This would be a great classroom discussion and a great lesson to implement. This novel also shows perseverance and persistence. Junior endures many hardships while attending Reardon high, not only does he deals with being an outsider but no longer has his best friends Rowdy to have his back. He even has to deal with feeling like two different people when on his first day of school the teacher announces his birth name. This should be showing to the audience that just because people come from different backgrounds that will occur with different name styles and types that they are people just like everybody else. This is another lesson and classroom discussion that should be incorporated. It will allow for students to see first-hand how it is rough for young adults to endure these small encounters when it may seem like nothing. Another theme that was implemented very well and is something that any reader of the novel can relate to is death. Junior explains in the novel how death is common occurrence on the reservation and talks about the amount of funerals he has attended in his life. The audience can easily relate to this because death occurs everywhere. Sherman Alexie did an overall amazing job in having his main themes be relatable, but more importantly showed how these themes are huge on reservations. I would like to end this blog with how Junior never gives up. An attitude that is perfect for a young adult literature text. This will show young adults that as tough as life can be that anybody can lie down and give up, but it takes a person with true character to keep preserving. Junior is a great character to show this. I would high recommend any of Sherman Alexie’s pieces of work and would rate this novel an A+.