On page 182 of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie uses a cartoon to express how Junior has to switch identities between Reardan and the rez. On the rez, he feels beaten down, rejected and demonized by his friends and family for transferring schools; this is depicted by showing himself as a “devil”. He blames himself for all the tragedy that has occurred, reasoning that his sister’s death would not have happened if he had not inspired her to leave, and therefore views himself negatively when the people on the rez make him feel guilty about his choice. On the other hand, in the Reardan section he creates the image of himself as an “angel”, representing how he feels appreciated and needed in the Reardan community. This is supported by the quote he uses on page 180, when he is puzzling out why he performs so much better in Reardan than he did on the rez (for basketball). He finally arrives at the conclusion, “I mean, I’d always been the lowest Indian on the reservation totem pole- I wasn’t expected to be good so I wasn’t. But in Reardan, my coach and the other players wanted me to be good. They needed me to be good. So I became good” (180). The cartoon continues with the undercurrent theme of identity and hope that has been running through the entire novel; he is weighing the pros and cons of living in Reardan versus living on the rez, a continuous dilemma he has struggled with since the beginning. Junior feels he has to choose sides, that he cannot experience the best of both worlds at the same time.
Although at first glance the cartoon seems to show how the “Reardan” Junior and the “rez” Junior are complete opposites, one a devil and one an angel, more subtle details of the drawing indicate otherwise.
A key element of the cartoon that could be easily overlooked is how in BOTH Reardan and the rez, Junior is having the same thoughts; “Who am I?” In both situations, Junior feels like something is missing, that he is not completely himself. In the rez, he is withheld from reaching his full ability and is not accepted by the people around him. As Mr. P put it in the beginning of the novel, “‘The only thing you kids are being taught is how to give up’” (42). In Reardan, he gives up his background; he is missing those previous 14 years of living on the rez, which plays a huge role in Junior’s identity. All of the cultural values of the rez, whether about sticking together as a family or how you are supposed to act, disappear when he enters Reardan.
If Junior drew a picture of himself playing basketball at the end of the novel, what do you think it would look like? Would he be in Reardan or in the rez or both? Would he be an angel or a devil? What would he look like? Why? Explain.
How do you think Junior’s step in transferring to Reardan will affect the relationship between Reardan and the rez? Will it change how Indians think about whites and how whites think about Indians?
I think that if Junior drew a cartoon of himself at the end of the novel it would just be plain old Junior, but split up into sections for each part of him. I think so because once Junior has found his identity, there won't be 2 contradicting parts of him clashing anymore, therefore he won't be the devil boy or the angel basketball player. Your identity is really all parts of you in balance to make up you, so that means all the parts fit together like a puzzle to create Junior. I also think that the "who am I" from the original cartoon would be gone, because the cartoon was about whether Junior is a rez kid or a Reardan basketball player, but once he finds his identity he will be both and doesn't have to choose.
ReplyDeleteI think the that Junior transferring to Reardan will for sure affect the relationship between Reardan and the rez. Junior betrayed the rez for Reardan. This was seen at the basketball game between Reardan and Wellpint. The Wellpint fans and students were throwing stuff at the Reardan bus and some of them were Junior's cousins. I think the Reardan perception of Indians has changed since Junior arrived at that school. Indians think differently about whites too. They have learned that white people also have problems. They at first thought white people got whatever they wanted.
ReplyDeleteIf Junior were to draw a picture of himself at the end of the book there would have to be at least two sides. This is because in Junior's daily life he encounters two completely different societies. One side would be where he lives which is the rez, and the other side would be his life at Rearden. His life at the rez is quite lonely and poor, the whole entire rez thinks of Junior as a traitor and doesn't want anything to do with him. While at Rearden, rich white people rome the classrooms with their own personal problems. Unlike the rez, at Rearden the kids are much more secretive and don't share personal stuff to each other.
ReplyDeleteIf Junior were to draw a picture of himself while he plays basketball, he would have to have many different things on his uniform. In the beginning of this chapter, I would say that it would just be Reardan, because he wants to kill Rowdy on the court, and Rowdy wants to humiliate him on the court as well. But as I approached the end of the chapter, I realized that Junior feels extremely bad for all the other kids at Wellpinit. Junior goes through a whole list of things about the other Indians, explaining how many problems they have. This really disrupts Arnold's path to find his identity because he was really becoming "more white than Indian". And then he has extremely mixed emotions and sadly cries his way out of his feelings. When Junior transferred to Reardan, the entire Indian community blew up. Then when the white people realized how great Arnold is, they started to fight constantly. This also comes back to the significance of the cartoon on page 182. This will really change how whites think of Indians and vise-versa.
ReplyDeleteIf Jr. drew a picture of himself playing basketball I think it would look like a half Reardan and half Rez uniform because he is not exactly sure where he fits in. I think there has always been conflict between the Rez and Reardan but Jr. move definitely made it more tense between the two. I think this is where Jr. is more Reardan than Rez now and I think Jr. will only grow more distant. I think Jr. has also given up on trying to make up with Rowdy. Do you think they will try and make up again.
ReplyDelete