The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Overview
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (2007) is a novel for young adults written by Sherman Alexie
. It is told in the first-person
, from the viewpoint of Native American
teenager
and budding cartoonist
Arnold Spirit, Jr. (better known by the nickname "Junior"). Detailing Arnold's life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his decision, upon encouragement from a reservation high school teacher, to go to an all-white high school in the off-reservation town of Reardan, Washington
, the novel deals with issues such as racism, poverty, and the following of tradition.
The novel opens with Arnold's explanation of the fact that he was born with an excess of cerebral spinal fluid in his skull (an event that he describes as being "born with water on the brain").
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...
. It is told in the first-person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
, from the viewpoint of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
teenager
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
and budding cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Arnold Spirit, Jr. (better known by the nickname "Junior"). Detailing Arnold's life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his decision, upon encouragement from a reservation high school teacher, to go to an all-white high school in the off-reservation town of Reardan, Washington
Reardan, Washington
Reardan is a town in Lincoln County, Washington, United States. The population was 571 at the 2010 census.-History:Founded in 1882 and platted in 1889, Reardan was named for Central Washington Railroad engineer C.F. Reardan...
, the novel deals with issues such as racism, poverty, and the following of tradition.
The novel opens with Arnold's explanation of the fact that he was born with an excess of cerebral spinal fluid in his skull (an event that he describes as being "born with water on the brain").
