Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Year: 2009
# Pages: 230
Category: YA Issues
Genre: Contemporary Realistic
My Summary & Critique:
I knew from the start of this course that I wanted to read this award-winning book because I heard it was funny, controversial, and fresh. While I have already satisfied my course requirements to read award winners and challenged books, both of which apply to this book, I decided to approach this review based its treatment of controversial subject matter—poverty and alcoholism.
The narrator, Arthur Spirit, known to his family as “Junior,” is a 14-year-old Spokane Indian, living on the reservation (“the rez”). He came into this world with a series of health problems that have made it nearly impossible for him to be considered “normal.” So he is picked on, beaten up, and harassed on a regular basis but he finds refuge in his cartoon drawings and in the unusual relationship he has with Rowdy, his best friend. Junior’s world changes when he takes the advice of his teacher to leave the reservation if he wants to have hope for a better life. So Junior gets his parents’ blessing to go to Reardon, a school outside of the reservation, where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Although his parents support his decision, many of the other residents of the reservation treat him like a traitor, especially his best friend, Rowdy, who has become his enemy. Going to school at Reardon proves to be much more difficult than he originally imagines as he also endures the hardships of fitting in, faces discrimination, and finds himself the butt of jokes. He is determined to make it, sometimes even having to hitchhike or walk to and from school when his father doesn’t have the gas money to pick him up. He eventually learns to find friendship and is able to find a happy medium between the rez and his school and is able to fit in better in both places.
This book is more than just funny. It is told with candor, honesty, and wit that will draw you in and make you love Arthur, cheer for him, weep with him, and hope for him. He tells his story with no apologies, just his observations and opinions, and he deals with some touchy subjects in a way that doesn't sugar-coat the issues. At the same time, he discusses very serious matters with a matter-of-fact style and casual humor that helps the reader through the controversy without feeling that it is contrived or out of place. Near the beginning of the book, we get a glimpse into the effects of poverty on his life as he describes "the worst thing about being poor." His best friend, Oscar--who happens to be his dog--is clearly not well, but his family doesn't have the money to take him to the vet. Arthur feels helpless in this situation because he wants to help his dog, but he knew there was "nothing he could do to save Oscar" so he comforted Oscar as best as he could and watched in horror as his parents made the decision (without him) to put Oscar out of his misery. Arthur wanted to blame his parents, but he knew they were also victims of a society where their dreams were squelched.
"They dreamed about being something other than poor, but they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams . . . It sucks to be poor and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you're poor because you're stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian, you start believing you're destined to be poor. It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it. Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor."
Arthur describes more about the effects of his family's poverty on other aspects of his life, his clothing, the old textbooks at his school, even his transportation. When he makes the choice to attend Reardon, 20 minutes away from home, his parents support his decision, but they often do not have the gas money to take him and pick him up from school, so he hitchhikes or walks home. Not having money even affects his social life as he is starting to make friends at his new school. His poverty is also compounded by his father's tendency to take any money the family might have and spend it on his next drink. Readers come to sympathize with Arthur and begin to understand the power and influence that money, or the lack of it, can have on a person, a family, and a community.
Alcoholism doesn't just appear in Arthur's life in spurts and starts; it pervades his whole family, his community. There are the obvious negative effects that are the result of Arthur's father's alcoholism, but his beloved grandmother, who had never drunk a drop of alcohol in her life, was killed by a drunk Indian driver. Arthur shares two bits of advice in this section of the novel. First, he tells how his grandmother's final words were, "Forgive him," referring to forgiving the drunk driver. Arthur's story helps the reader understand how poverty and discrimination could contribute to the hopelessness and desperation that would lead people to drink. Secondly, Arthur's grandmother also gave him some advice about drinking which is good for teen readers as well:
"Drinking would shut down my seeing and my hearing and my feeling," she used to say. "Why would I want to be in the world if I couldn't touch the world with all of my senses intact?"
Alcohol also played a role in the death of his sister and his father's best friend, Eugene. It is no wonder that Arthur's mother begged him never to take a drink. There is much that teen readers can learn about the effects of drinking alcohol in Arthur's life by reading his story, yet it is not preachy, just painfully honest and open.
This story seems, at first, like the kind of story you'd want to hand to your middle schooler because many of the reviews focus on the hilarity and humor. However some of the issues, sexual references and language are more fitting for older students who are more equipped to handle the balance between the laughs and the lessons they will find in this novel. I absolutely think this book should be read and discussed; it would seem like a crime not to do so.
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