Important Characters and Plot
The main character in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is Arnold, who is living on a Spokane Indian Reservation (7). Arnold was born with hydrocephalus , and it was a struggle for him throughout his life, but he found his way of expression. Arnold drew a lot, "I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited" (5). Arnold copes with his situations through pictures and through humor and it gives him a lot of character that is easy for many people to relate to. Rowdy is Arnold's best friend for part of the story, and then they get in a big fight about Arnold's transfer, "I didn't want to get him mad. When Rowdy got mad it took him days to get un-mad" (49), and it throws a wedge between them. Rowdy refuses to talk to Arnold and Arnold isn't sure he'll be able to fix things between the two of them. Having such a hard time with Rowdy, Arnold meets Penelope, who plays a pretty big role in Arnold's story, along with his family. His family consists of his alcoholic father, his mother, his older sister, and his wise old Spokane Indian grandmother, and they provide an assortment of advice and life experiences that they share with Arnold. Some are good, and others are not so good, but they all play big roles in how Arnold chooses to live his own life, and how he deals with certain situations that come up.
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Image from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Pg 5
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Themes and Symbols in Part-Time Indian: Hope and Perseverance
A lot of different themes seem to come up in Part-Time Indian, but the one I found to stick out the most was Hope, and more specifically Arnold's hope for a better life outside the one he's living at the time. Right away, during his first year of high school, Arnold starts to question the life he's living on the Spokane Reservation, and he begins to ask around to find out how he can change his life. He talks to his teacher and is told in response, "'You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation'" (43). After hearing that Arnold wants something like a second opinion and he goes to his parents, "I said. 'Who has the most hope?' 'White people,' my parents said at the same time" (45). Arnold takes this all into consideration and knows there is hope for his life, and he decides he is going to find this hope for himself. Arnold takes his life into his own hands and he walks off his Reservation school and finds his hope in a "white person school." It was definitely a struggle at first, but Arnold stuck with it because he knew exactly what he wanted and he knew he would need to stick with it to be able to get what he wanted, a future. Leaving the Reservation was not a common thing when Arnold was growing up and his parents knew that and they warned him too, "'You'll be the first one to ever leave the rez this way,' Mom said. 'The Indians around here are going to be angry with you'" (47). Arnold knew things were going to happen when he left the reservation, but his hope for a better future away from the Reservation were bigger than his fears of what might happen when he left. Arnold used his fears and his dreams to push him through his time at Reardan, the "white person school", and to help him show everyone, Indian and white men, that Spokane Indians can break away from the normal, and push through struggles to get what they hope for. I think all of us can learn from this story also, just as Arnold pushed through the naysayers and the bullies, we can all push through our own struggles and come out much better on the other side.
A lot of different themes seem to come up in Part-Time Indian, but the one I found to stick out the most was Hope, and more specifically Arnold's hope for a better life outside the one he's living at the time. Right away, during his first year of high school, Arnold starts to question the life he's living on the Spokane Reservation, and he begins to ask around to find out how he can change his life. He talks to his teacher and is told in response, "'You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation'" (43). After hearing that Arnold wants something like a second opinion and he goes to his parents, "I said. 'Who has the most hope?' 'White people,' my parents said at the same time" (45). Arnold takes this all into consideration and knows there is hope for his life, and he decides he is going to find this hope for himself. Arnold takes his life into his own hands and he walks off his Reservation school and finds his hope in a "white person school." It was definitely a struggle at first, but Arnold stuck with it because he knew exactly what he wanted and he knew he would need to stick with it to be able to get what he wanted, a future. Leaving the Reservation was not a common thing when Arnold was growing up and his parents knew that and they warned him too, "'You'll be the first one to ever leave the rez this way,' Mom said. 'The Indians around here are going to be angry with you'" (47). Arnold knew things were going to happen when he left the reservation, but his hope for a better future away from the Reservation were bigger than his fears of what might happen when he left. Arnold used his fears and his dreams to push him through his time at Reardan, the "white person school", and to help him show everyone, Indian and white men, that Spokane Indians can break away from the normal, and push through struggles to get what they hope for. I think all of us can learn from this story also, just as Arnold pushed through the naysayers and the bullies, we can all push through our own struggles and come out much better on the other side.