If you get pushed over on soccer the field, get up, and play harder. If someone beats you in a competition, go home and study until you are better. These types of lessons are taught to young kids to promote resilience from the beginning. Arnold Spirit Jr., or Junior, for short, spends lots of time getting up on the soccer field to go play harder. He lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation, in Washington, where the majority of people living there are constantly drunk, gambling, or fighting one another. The education is poor, people are hungry, and nobody ever leaves. In the comedic novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior, demonstrates aspects of a comedic hero because as he experiences
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The affluent, purely white school is not accepting of an Indian boy at first, however, Junior invents a path in for himself. His first move is making friends with the smartest kid in his class, Gordy. With no friends and nothing to lose, he approaches Gordy, and declares, “I want us to be friends”, then he reveals “and so we became friends” (70). Junior’s bold move to make a friend sparks the beginning of his community at Reardan, as Gordy takes a liking to him and becomes his first companion. His resilience to resist the racism at his new school is rewarded with friendship. Later in the story, Junior expands his community through his new, popular girlfriend, Penelope. He finds her in a moment of vulnerability, and comforts her. With Penelope by his side, Junior, “suddenly became popular [...] I was an exciting addition to the Reardan gene pool” (88-90). He grows his community through popularity as his classmates are more accepting of him once they see he has Penelope’s approval. Through the challenges of discrimination, Junior manages to make friends at Reardan through bravery and
The affluent, purely white school is not accepting of an Indian boy at first, however, Junior invents a path in for himself. His first move is making friends with the smartest kid in his class, Gordy. With no friends and nothing to lose, he approaches Gordy, and declares, “I want us to be friends”, then he reveals “and so we became friends” (70). Junior’s bold move to make a friend sparks the beginning of his community at Reardan, as Gordy takes a liking to him and becomes his first companion. His resilience to resist the racism at his new school is rewarded with friendship. Later in the story, Junior expands his community through his new, popular girlfriend, Penelope. He finds her in a moment of vulnerability, and comforts her. With Penelope by his side, Junior, “suddenly became popular [...] I was an exciting addition to the Reardan gene pool” (88-90). He grows his community through popularity as his classmates are more accepting of him once they see he has Penelope’s approval. Through the challenges of discrimination, Junior manages to make friends at Reardan through bravery and