The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

In the book “The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, Junior feels very out of place. He generally looked goofy and freakish. He was born with fluids in his brain, lopsided vision, a stutter, a lisp, a huge head and feet, and he was stick thin. So you could imagine he felt a bit odd where he lived, the Indian Reservation. I think a theme in this book is that just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you’re not worth something.

The book mentions topics such as masturbation, racism, physical abuse, bullying, harsh language, and bulimia. Junior tells us that masturbating, aside from drawing cartoons, is one of the ways of coping with being bullied by almost everyone on the Rez other than his best friend Rowdy, who’s dad, by the way, beats him. Rowdy doesn’t like to cover it up though, because “It’s war paint, it just makes me look tougher” (page 16). Everywhere at school and just even in public, people will go out of their way to pick on and torture Junior. Also, on page 106, he meets a white girl at his new school who’s bulimic, he sees her in the bathroom and confronts her.

And also, a bit into the book, Junior’s family had just decided to move meaning that he had to switch schools, and his new one is almost all white kids. On page 57, he has illustrated the difference between him and the average person at the school. There is a clear difference, one just being where they shop. An example is how Junior said he got his canvas shoes from a supermarket and how the white kid has the latest Air Jordan’s. There’s a very clear difference in class and how the issue of racism is dealt and told throughout the story.

I would also like to point out the repeated use of the word ‘hope’ in the book. On page 43, Junior’s teacher, Mr. P, is talking to him and tells him he has to leave the Rez forever. This conversation is followed up by a drawing by Junior that has two signs pointing one way saying “REZ” and “HOME”, then two signs pointing the other way that say “HOPE” and “???”. There’s also another drawing on page 47 of Junior’s face drowning in ants on an anthill with a thought bubble that says “Hope?!!??”. This shows that the Rez is the only place Junior could ever call home and that he had no idea what he would do or where he would go if he had to leave. Also, on page 57, the page with the comparison between him and a white kid, it’s listed how the white kid has “Hope” and how Junior is stuck with “Bone-crushing reality”. This shows that he thinks the white kids have it easier than him, which they probably do.
In conclusion, I think that even though Junior goes through a lot of crap because of things he can’t help, that doesn’t mean he’s any less than the other kids at school. Just because they don’t have a garbage bag backpack, or a freakishly large head and lanky body, doesn't mean they're better than him in any way. There are a lot of things that Junior can’t change about himself, but he just decides to hope for the best.