I am writing this essay for reviewing Sherman Alexie’s novel ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’. This is a book about a fifteen-year-old Indian boy who was born different from the rest of the kids at his school, which leads to bullying of his appearance. He has forty-two teeth, is pretty skinny, and has a really big head, hands, and feet, he also suffers from poor eyesight, has seizures often, and stutters. He is abused by others because of these problems, Junior is usually beaten up at school, and kids give Junior nicknames like retarded and called a 'globe' for his big head. This quote explains what lead to him looking differently than everyone else: “I was born with water on the brain. Okay, so that's not exactly true. I was actually born with too much cerebrospinal fluid inside my skull”. Throughout the book, Junior goes through a lot of bullying and faces a lot of struggles with peers at school.
Junior’s family, like most other Indian families, is really poor. This is shown when Arnold's best friend, an adopted dog named Oscar, begins to suffer on the inside from intense heat exhaustion. His father tells Junior that he needs to kill him with a rifle to avoid not paying for the veterinary treatment because they are really poor. Junior’s father shoots his dog because 1 bullet is only 2 cents. Junior’s life changes with his best friend Rowdy, whom Junior describes as “the toughest kid on the rez”. The author tells us that Junior’s best friend is tough because Rowdy's father is “drinking hard and throwing hard punches”; he abuses his son and wife, and this is what leads Rowdy to always be bruised. Rowdy is one of the few Indians on the reservation who respects Junior and would care if he was to be gone or transfer schools.
I was drawn into the story because it was about a true life story of an Indian. And was interested in seeing what the way of living is for an Indian like Junior. I liked this book a lot and I was never pulled away from it. The author’s strength is how he explains every single moment in the day that happens throughout Junior’s life. The author’s weakness is that he's not an artist and needed Ellen to do the art for him. What made this book for me so unique is how this book reminds me of a friend I know. This book’s value is how powerful poverty is in this book. At the beginning of the story, he describes himself as a cripple and how he gets made fun of. I thought the whole book was going to be about his bullying and how it affects his life. But no, it’s a real-life diary of Junior in high school. What I liked about this book was the theme of how it took place in school. That's where you make friends, memories, enemies, and level of stress higher.
To conclude, I really enjoyed Sherman Alexie’s novel ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’, and I would never say this, but wish it could have been a bit longer. This book is easy to comprehend and such a warming diary.