The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian teaches the reader that competence is not related to your IQ. Arnold Spirit serves as an example for this. Throughout the story he becomes more competent, and this is shown in various story points. One has to grow up to become more competent, it does not matter how intelligent they are. Age is one of the only cures for incompetence. In the beginning of the story, Arnold is somewhat incompetent. “And then Dad pulled down his rifle and bullets from the closet.” (10) Arnold reacted extremely negatively not just because he was angry at his Dad for killing Oscar, but because he was afraid. He was afraid because he did not know what to do. He was not competent enough to know what to do. Before this,
…show more content…
He has not understood that there are some things that a person cannot avoid. One may argue that he is simply sad because Oscar died. However, if this was the case, he would have reacted in a more composed manner. He would not have had the thought that he did if he was mature and competent enough to fully grasp the situation. “...I was way smarter than 99 percent of the others.” (84) Although this may very well be true, Arnold shows the reader that he is incompetent here in a different way. He shows that he is immature, that he has not grown up yet. This is not a fault of Arnold’s, it is simply that he has only a small amount of life experience. Firsthand experience with the trials that life presents is one of the only cures for a lack of competence. When Arnold loses three of people that are very close to him, he realizes that sometimes, there is nothing one can do to avoid the unavoidable. This is part of growing up. This is part of becoming more competent. Competence is essential to Arnold this period of the story, and as the times come and go he understands what it means to live and to die …show more content…
They are a way of venting stress, anger, and sadness. All of these emotions were bottled up in Arnold at the time of Oscar’s death. When his sister died, his unconscious mind was what helped him handle the situation. “Things had gotten so intense, so painful, that my body just checked out. Yep, my mind and soul and heart had a quick meeting and voted to shut down for a few repairs.” (206) This is a fairly accurate representation of what happened. Arnold passed out so that his mind would calm him down and help him realize that his sister was dead. Before this, he had been in shock. He was worried that his father may have died on the drive over, so much so that he became incredibly ecstatic to find that his father was alive. “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms. ...And that’s when I knew that I was going to be okay.” (217) This is an important scene in the book, it shows that Arnold fully understands that life is hard, and will most likely become even harder for him. However, he knows that because of all of his experiences he will be able to make it
He has not understood that there are some things that a person cannot avoid. One may argue that he is simply sad because Oscar died. However, if this was the case, he would have reacted in a more composed manner. He would not have had the thought that he did if he was mature and competent enough to fully grasp the situation. “...I was way smarter than 99 percent of the others.” (84) Although this may very well be true, Arnold shows the reader that he is incompetent here in a different way. He shows that he is immature, that he has not grown up yet. This is not a fault of Arnold’s, it is simply that he has only a small amount of life experience. Firsthand experience with the trials that life presents is one of the only cures for a lack of competence. When Arnold loses three of people that are very close to him, he realizes that sometimes, there is nothing one can do to avoid the unavoidable. This is part of growing up. This is part of becoming more competent. Competence is essential to Arnold this period of the story, and as the times come and go he understands what it means to live and to die …show more content…
They are a way of venting stress, anger, and sadness. All of these emotions were bottled up in Arnold at the time of Oscar’s death. When his sister died, his unconscious mind was what helped him handle the situation. “Things had gotten so intense, so painful, that my body just checked out. Yep, my mind and soul and heart had a quick meeting and voted to shut down for a few repairs.” (206) This is a fairly accurate representation of what happened. Arnold passed out so that his mind would calm him down and help him realize that his sister was dead. Before this, he had been in shock. He was worried that his father may have died on the drive over, so much so that he became incredibly ecstatic to find that his father was alive. “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms. ...And that’s when I knew that I was going to be okay.” (217) This is an important scene in the book, it shows that Arnold fully understands that life is hard, and will most likely become even harder for him. However, he knows that because of all of his experiences he will be able to make it