Deconstructive Theory in Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a boy named Junior lives on a Spokane Indian reservation in Washington. He chooses to leave the reservation to pursue education at the local public school, Reardan. Reardan is known on reservation for its wealth and largely white student body. In a broader sense, a certain hierarchy exists between life on a reservation and the white society outside of its perimeters. This dichotomy falls under the duality facet of deconstructive theory. In this portion of the theory, deconstruction “refuses to rest with the replacement of one term of an opposition by the other, which serves merely to perpetuate hierarchization” …show more content…
In other words, the hierarchy can be reversed and exposed. Although it would be hard to reverse the reservation hierarchy with the dynamic of Reardan, it did occur once in the novel during the first basketball game between the two schools. The hierarchy exists because Reardan has the power. They have the funding, the teachers who care, the books, and the resources. All that the reservation has is the passionate basketball team, and their passion puts them over the top in their first …show more content…
He chooses to leave the reservation to pursue education at the local public school known on reservation for its wealth and largely white student body. In a broader sense, a certain hierarchy exists between life on a reservation and the white society outside of its perimeters. This dichotomy falls under the duality facet of deconstructive theory. The plot of the story is dependent on the idea that there is an inbalance between the two societies within the novel. The white society is favored above the reservation, and this is evident through the different schools and the goals and values of both societies. However, this hierarchy can be and is reversed at one point in the book, proving that deconstructive theory applies to the story. According to Junior, “Indians have forgotten that reservations were meant to be death camps” (217). The dichotomy is disgusting at times, but nonetheless, it still exists, and will continue to pervade the lives of Native Americans throughout the country until such a day when the hierarchy is reversed in more ways than a basketball
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a boy named Junior lives on a Spokane Indian reservation in Washington. He chooses to leave the reservation to pursue education at the local public school, Reardan. Reardan is known on reservation for its wealth and largely white student body. In a broader sense, a certain hierarchy exists between life on a reservation and the white society outside of its perimeters. This dichotomy falls under the duality facet of deconstructive theory. In this portion of the theory, deconstruction “refuses to rest with the replacement of one term of an opposition by the other, which serves merely to perpetuate hierarchization” …show more content…
In other words, the hierarchy can be reversed and exposed. Although it would be hard to reverse the reservation hierarchy with the dynamic of Reardan, it did occur once in the novel during the first basketball game between the two schools. The hierarchy exists because Reardan has the power. They have the funding, the teachers who care, the books, and the resources. All that the reservation has is the passionate basketball team, and their passion puts them over the top in their first …show more content…
He chooses to leave the reservation to pursue education at the local public school known on reservation for its wealth and largely white student body. In a broader sense, a certain hierarchy exists between life on a reservation and the white society outside of its perimeters. This dichotomy falls under the duality facet of deconstructive theory. The plot of the story is dependent on the idea that there is an inbalance between the two societies within the novel. The white society is favored above the reservation, and this is evident through the different schools and the goals and values of both societies. However, this hierarchy can be and is reversed at one point in the book, proving that deconstructive theory applies to the story. According to Junior, “Indians have forgotten that reservations were meant to be death camps” (217). The dichotomy is disgusting at times, but nonetheless, it still exists, and will continue to pervade the lives of Native Americans throughout the country until such a day when the hierarchy is reversed in more ways than a basketball