Part-Time Indian Conflicts

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about a fourteen year boy named Arnold Spirit who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation that is drowning in poverty. Arnold lives with his family, surrounded by other poor Native Americans with depression and alcoholism. With his appearance and many health issues, he is often targeted on the reservation. A desire to break away from a place lacking hope and opportunity motives Arnold to transfer to Reardan. After shifting schools, many people on the reservation say he is a traitor, while his classmates at Reardan ignore or torment him for being different. Arnold feels he does not belong in either place, making him a “part-time Indian”. Towards the end, people begin to accept Arnold, but more importantly, he begins to accept himself. “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane …show more content…
I loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because of the setting, suspense, conflict and resolution. The setting had a major role in the story because it influenced many factors in the book. One conflict in the story was when the other Native Americans, including his best friend, were giving Arnold a hard time for leaving the reservation to go to a rich, white school in Reardan. If the setting wasn’t as poor, the Native American’s wouldn’t have taken their anger from life out on Arnold. Another element that was affected by the setting were the characters. With his depression and addiction, Arnold’s father uses the little money his family has to spend at bars, and may return home a couple of weeks later. The sad situations Arnold had to go through shaped the suspense of the story. Arnold expresses through his humor of how challenging it is being a Native American living on such a poor reservation. Arnold says he’s part of “The Black-Eye-of-the-Month-Club” not just to be humorous, but to deliver the idea that he is beaten regularly because of his