Adolescents sense an advancing journey as they transform from childhood to adulthood, and in doing so are challenged with various developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional adjustments are occurring during this stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a superiority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian illustrates the obstacles of adolescence in alluring ways, but accord with minority communities and cultures as well. Arnold Spirit (Junior) is the narrator in the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and unlike several unreliable narrators, Junior is never inaccurate as the conclusion of maliciousness or premeditated deception. Rather, the gap between Junior’s version of experiences and what Alexie suggests what really happens, is the result of Junior’s emotional shock.
Many of the novel’s chapters are stories of Junior waking up to one of his biases or blind spots. Junior is genuine, resilient, and persistent. When he observes them, he is forthcoming about his guilts with himself and readers. There are several themes to the main character in this novel that suggests resilience, this is perceived through many forms – identity, home, race, poverty, mortality, friendship, goals, education, and traditions are such to list. In Christine Gorman’s article, The Importance of Resilience, the writer suggests how resilience is a crucial aspect to a child’s development and perception of society. “Kids who are resilient have often found something to be better at than anyone else.” This quote perfectly describes Junior’s transformation and perspective on both his tribe and new school, as the obstacles that this character faced in the novel ties in with his resilience and leads to his intrinsic motivation with a growth mindset.
Throughout the novel, Junior battles with an impact of double-consciousness or internal disagreement. After his agreement to visit Reardan, Junior feels he is not entirely Indian when he is on the Spokane Reservation. However, when he is at Reardan, Junior knows that he is not white. This is emulated in various of Junior’s cartoons, which depict the simple division between life on and off the reservation."Well, life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community."(18.20-18.30). Junior battles to discover acknowledgement in both districts, and his positive personality traits, especially his endurance, eventually protect him friends among the white students.
One of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’s central ironies is that Junior discovers that it is more difficult to find approval from Rowdy and the other members of his own tribe than he does in the white community. “They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going-away gifts from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn't believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?” (Alexie, page 27). On Junior’s first day at the new school, his perspective changes from his own eyes to the eyes of the white students as well. He realizes that in their perception, he's not an outcast, but he is something along the lines of "Bigfoot" or a "UFO" than an actual person. Here Junior sees himself in two ways at once. Looking through bifocal glasses would be a metaphor for Junior’s mindset in this moment, this is a state of "double consciousness."
This took a toll on Junior’s confidence, he did feel out of place and glorifies white people and the culture at his new school. One of the cartoons the writer includes in the novel is one regarding a white and indian student. This cartoon depicts the privilege of the white student, as he is wearing the top brands in terms of shoes in clothing. The styles are the main difference between these two students, as the indian portion of the cartoon depicts low-income, as the student is wearing low-budgeted clothing and a garbage bag as a backpack. “a bright future”, “positive role models” and “hope” are also written on the white student’s background. Whereas “a vanishing past”, “a family history of diabetes and cancer” and “bone-crushing reality” are written on the side of the indian student’s. This is a metaphor for how he views both groups.
This perception takes a big toll on Junior’s personality and confidence. However, as the novel progresses, Junior’s internal conflicts are never truly cleared up. Instead, after losses from family and in passing time, they fade in connotation. This is where Junior discovers that it is not the color of your skin and your background that depicts whether you will be successful or not, rather, it is how you overcome the challenges you faced in your life that makes you into the person you are. Sure, perhaps your background may become a factor in your future depending on who you are and how you were raised, if you’re lucky. It is more of the power of a passionate mindset however, and the drive for one’s goal is what determines a person’s success in their future. Another cartoon in the novel to support this, is the one depicting “My Parents”. Drawn are two parents with different professions, one being a professor and the other being a musician. Included in the cartoon is the analysis of who his parents would have turned out to be “if somebody paid attention to their dreams”. The inclusion of this cartoon is a fine example of how the character that it’s not necessarily where you come from, rather it’s what you decide to do with your life and how you proceed to develop that determines one’s future. It wasn’t until the end of the novel, after Junior faced the life-challenges he was thrown with, where he discovered this himself. This takes a toll on Junior’s personality and adapts to his growth mindset. Every obstacle that Junior faced, it inspired him to move on and perceive. It is here where audiences realize how intrinsically motivated Junior is.
It is evident that there is development of the main character and what he is discovering about himself and how he interacts with the other characters in the novel that is crucial, for it helped him navigate through Reardon High School and learn the greatest version of himself. Like with any person, there are several challenges and life-challenging situations in the novel that proceed to Arnold’s discovery of new attributes regarding himself. Our environment can also define who we are. By developing our surroundings, we can better ourselves. Junior is done with viewing himself as just one of two people: half-Indian Junior or half-white Junior. He rejects the thought of being defined solely by his race or ethnicity anymore. Alternatively, Junior discovers that he belongs to many different associations, some of which have nothing to do with being Indian or white. With this new kind of perception, he views himself as a member of many different tribes, and is able to forge a new and meaningful identity. He becomes multi-tribal, which means that he belongs to many different groups. Junior is a vagabond, comparable to the ancient Indians. Even though he leaves his home on the reservation, he's not deserting his family, history, or identity as a Native American. If anything, he grasps it more towards the end of the novel.