Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” provides a humorous view of the difficult life conditions of Native Americans. This novel is the story of a young Spokane Indian named Junior and his difficult transition of leaving the reservation to attend an all-white school. Junior experiences many unfortunate situations: he is condemned as a traitor by his people on the reservation, his best friend hates him for leaving, and his grandmother, sister, and his father’s best friend pass away in a short period of time. Throughout all these tragedies, Junior draws cartoons and uses comedy as a way to express his emotions. Junior reacts to the majority of situations with humour, whether it be his hydrocephalic brain, his
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Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian uses humour to address the serious life conditions of Native Americans. In particular, Alexie focuses on the prevalence of alcohol abuse and poverty that is often found on reservations. Alcohol abuse is a very prominent issue on the Spokane Reserve, and Junior acknowledges this problem through comical commentary. Junior constantly makes fun of the stereotype of the drunken Indian, even though he is personally affected by alcoholism on his reservation. Alcohol is responsible for the deaths of Junior’s grandmother, sister, and his father’s best friend. Alexie highlights the destructive nature of alcohol abuse and writes about alcoholism in hope that it will bring attention to this problem on reservations: “Alexie uses the meliorative social and moral values inherent in irony and satire, as well as certain conventional character types, including the stereotype of the "drunken Indian”, as materials for constructing a realistic literary document for contemporary Indian survival” (Evans 48). He uses literary techniques such as irony and satire throughout the novel not only to make people laugh but to make them …show more content…
He says “I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation” (p.7). Although his statement may be humorous through the use of diction, it shows how desperately frustrating it is to be poor. Sherman Alexie makes light of the harsh realities to tone down the real social issues on reservations, making them more accessible, and hopefully increasing awareness. For example, on Halloween, Junior says: “at school today, I went dressed as a homeless dude. It was a pretty easy costume for me. There’s not much difference between my good and bad clothes, so I pretty much look half-homeless anyway” (p.77). Junior pokes fun at himself, but it is unfortunate that he truly does look homeless on a daily basis because of the lack of money in his family. Another example of Alexie’s use of humor and poverty in the reservation is when Junior has trouble getting to school everyday. He draws a comical cartoon showing the different ways he gets to school, by either hitchhiking or walking most of the time because they could not afford gas. He then sarcastically writes “Next week: Start over (but in a different order!)” (p. 88). This is the reality for many Native Americans living on reservations, and Alexie wants to make people aware of of the social issues they face. The unfortunate reality of “reservation life highlights the uneven
Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian uses humour to address the serious life conditions of Native Americans. In particular, Alexie focuses on the prevalence of alcohol abuse and poverty that is often found on reservations. Alcohol abuse is a very prominent issue on the Spokane Reserve, and Junior acknowledges this problem through comical commentary. Junior constantly makes fun of the stereotype of the drunken Indian, even though he is personally affected by alcoholism on his reservation. Alcohol is responsible for the deaths of Junior’s grandmother, sister, and his father’s best friend. Alexie highlights the destructive nature of alcohol abuse and writes about alcoholism in hope that it will bring attention to this problem on reservations: “Alexie uses the meliorative social and moral values inherent in irony and satire, as well as certain conventional character types, including the stereotype of the "drunken Indian”, as materials for constructing a realistic literary document for contemporary Indian survival” (Evans 48). He uses literary techniques such as irony and satire throughout the novel not only to make people laugh but to make them …show more content…
He says “I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation” (p.7). Although his statement may be humorous through the use of diction, it shows how desperately frustrating it is to be poor. Sherman Alexie makes light of the harsh realities to tone down the real social issues on reservations, making them more accessible, and hopefully increasing awareness. For example, on Halloween, Junior says: “at school today, I went dressed as a homeless dude. It was a pretty easy costume for me. There’s not much difference between my good and bad clothes, so I pretty much look half-homeless anyway” (p.77). Junior pokes fun at himself, but it is unfortunate that he truly does look homeless on a daily basis because of the lack of money in his family. Another example of Alexie’s use of humor and poverty in the reservation is when Junior has trouble getting to school everyday. He draws a comical cartoon showing the different ways he gets to school, by either hitchhiking or walking most of the time because they could not afford gas. He then sarcastically writes “Next week: Start over (but in a different order!)” (p. 88). This is the reality for many Native Americans living on reservations, and Alexie wants to make people aware of of the social issues they face. The unfortunate reality of “reservation life highlights the uneven