Absolutely True Diary tells story of part-time Indian
By Karen Baena
With witty and quick writing, a strong message, and explicit language that references sexuality and violence, Sherman Alexie author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (True Diary) captivates her reader from the start and does not disappoint.
True Diary is the story of a 14 year-old Native American/Indian boy called Junior who, when he enrolls in an all white school outside his reservation, struggles to rise above the stereotypes society associates with his people.
While True Diary attempts to break down society’s stereotypes of Indians, it also explores the trials of growing up.
Junior, the main character, is born with “water on the brain” meaning he had too much cerebral spinal fluid in the brain. It leads to his having various body deformities: 42 teeth (check your mouth you probably only have thirty-two unless you’re deformed as well), nearsighted in one eye, farsighted in the other, skinny, and huge feet and hands (in third grade, Junior’s feet were a size 11).
Because of his differences, Junior is bullied by other Indians. (In chapter four, three 30 year-old Indian men beat him up). But Junior is not only different physically but also academically. He is too smart, and has a strong desire to learn. When he realizes that the reservation school has been using the same books for over 30 years, he throws the book at the teacher.
It is that same teacher who urges Junior to leave the reservation. He explains to Junior that he has a light that everyone else on the reservation has lost and that in order for that light to remain, he must leave.
Following the teachers’ advice, Junior goes to Rearden, a school with an Indian mascot, (just like Lane). Rearden is a predominantly White school and there Junior has to learn new rules about the way people treat each other and the way they will treat him.
Facing the troubles of life outside the reservation and troubles at home, Junior turns to art to express his thoughts, fears, and frustrations. It is through his comics that he shows the world that that he sees, adding a smile to the reader.
Junior struggles throughout the book. While learning to adapt to a different culture and chasing a different life, he loses his best friend. He suffers additional torment when within a span of a few months several people he is close to die. All this leads him to conclude that he is living in a world where he doesn’t belong.
“Nobody in my family had ever gone near a college,” he says. “Rearden was the opposite of the rez. It was the opposite of my family. It was the opposite of me. I didn’t deserve to be there. I knew it; all of those kids knew it. Indian don’t deserve s***.”
Junior stands as a representation that goes beyond his heritage. He embodies hope to every person that is trying to rise above, and who faces hardships along the way. However, True Diary also has a social message that should speak closely to Lane students.
“They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO,” thought Junior on his first day at his new school. “What was I doing at Rearden, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?”
Though Lane’s mascot is an Indian, I realized I’d never stopped and thought too much about Indians. If I had, I doubt that the image that would have popped into my head would have been anything like Junior.
My image would have been of a big, strong, and muscular warrior. In my mental picture he would be holding a spear. He would be in a defensive position, ready to attack the enemy. This is my idea of a Lane Indian. But it is not a real picture of what American Indians are anymore.
I refuse to think that whoever chose our mascot intended to ridicule Indians. It makes sense that we would want to model our sports and academic teams on the toughness and a dedication of Indian warriors. Our intentions are not in question. What is in question is our social sensitivity.
By declaring the Indian our mascot we open up a door to all sorts of arguments. For example, are we equalizing the Indian culture to the characteristics of Dolphins (Whitney Young), Wildcats (Lakeview), or Bulldogs (Shurz)?
Perhaps this isn’t a fair comparison. After all, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be a strong, muscular, and intimidating school? But is it ok to generalize an entire culture as a mascot? No.
Obviously, Junior did not fit the “Indian” stereotype. In fact, neither his family, his friends, nor his neighbors fit the stereotype. So what makes it right to pick Indians as our mascot when we know we are only referring to the warriors?
The Japanese had warriors too. They were called Samurais. Mexicans, Africans, Europeans, and every other culture has had warriors. So why are we not the Lane Japanese, or the Lane Mexicans, or the Lane Africans? Because that would be considered by most to be insensitive, if not blatantly racist. Yet, we have no problem calling ourselves Indians. We seem to have forgotten that the same sensitivity we should show toward different ethnicities should apply to all cultures equally.
We have ignored social duty in regards to Indians. We have forgotten that their minority is also sensitive.
Alexie’s True Diary is heart breaking. It exposes the reader to life outside “the rez.” It makes the reader face truths of life, whether they are about being a teen in a new school or admitting that as a society – or even a school – we have forgotten our manners.
