The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay

Julian Green

Period 4

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay

    Arnold Spirit is a Native American that lives on a reservation with his family members. His family is very poor and most people become alcoholics when they get older. Arnold’s father, in particular, is an alcoholic who will sometimes not come home for days because of his drinking problems. Arnold also was born with many birth defects. On the reservation, he was made fun of because of his big head, big feet and hands, skinny body, stutter, and lisp. He was often bullied at school and even belonged to the, “Black-Eye-of-the-Month-Club.” Arnold also draws cartoons to portray the emotions he feels since he thinks that “words are too limited” (pg.2-5). Finally, Arnold was convinced by his Geometry teacher, Mr. P, to leave the reservation to find hope; and he listened.

    Arnold Spirit is an assimilationist who abandoned his people. Arnold left his reservation   to go to Reardan to find what Mr. P called, “hope.” He basically tried to make his life better in a place with no hopeless, thrown-in-the-towel, negative Native Americans that would most likely end up staying in the reservation for the rest of their lives. Arnold also admired the kids at his new school. On page 50-51 of the book, he describes the white kids at Reardan as magnificent, beautiful, smart, epic, and filled with hope. Arnold also had to travel over twenty miles to get to school. This is significant in justifying that he wanted to find hope out of the reservation so badly, that he’d go anywhere to get what he needs to become something better than most Native Americans became. Thus, proving that abandoning the reservation was the only way to not get mentally “killed” or become hopeless.

    Arnold’s life at Reardan is significantly harder and more lonely than his life on the reservation. At home, Arnold would be surrounded by family members and friends that he had spent his whole life with. He had friends and family that made him laugh and enjoy being Native American. But, at Reardan, he was a social outcast. On page 83, it states that he had no friends, no one talked to him, no one sat at lunch with him, and no one barely even looked at him. He was basically invisible to his classmates, and that certainly must’ve made finding hope at his new school much harder. But, some might argue that when Arnold left the reservation, he could’ve been trying to find hope in himself so that he can bring hope to the reservation and end the stereotypes and hopelessness that surround the people he’s grown up with. But, leaving the reservation, abandoning the people he knows, and starting his life over would be the only way to bring up his community and bring hope to the reservation.