Final 2

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Final 2

Introduction

The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a graphic novel by Sherman Alexie. The novel centers on the life of a 14-year-old Native American, ‘Junior’ who lives in the Spokane Indian Reservation but goes to the all-white public school. The main theme depicted in the book is Racism. This essay will discuss three specific examples of where the theme occurs in the story.

Discussion

"And what's more, our white dentist believed that Indians only felt half as much pain as white people did, so he only gave us half the Novocain" ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4xJF754I","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Alexie)","plainCitation":"(Alexie)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"MOunXqSF/pCO4Xi8n","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"itemData":{"id":547,"type":"book","abstract":"An all-new edition of the tragicomic smash hit which stormed the New York Times bestseller charts, now featuring an introduction from Markus Zusak.In his first book for young adults, Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, featuring poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, is based on the author's own experiences. It chronicles contemporary adolescence as seen through the eyes of one Native American boy.'Excellent in every way' Neil GaimanIllustrated in a contemporary cartoon style by Ellen Forney.","ISBN":"978-1-4481-8856-7","language":"en","note":"Google-Books-ID: LE8DDQAAQBAJ","number-of-pages":"226","publisher":"Andersen Press Limited","source":"Google Books","title":"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian","author":[{"family":"Alexie","given":"Sherman"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",9,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Alexie 2). In this quote, Junior tries to depict how racism has taken control of every profession. He explains how white dentists would give them less anesthesia than whites because they believed in the false notion that Indians are less likely to feel pain and physical torment because of their ethnicity. These lines depict the use of the theme racism in the story.

"None of those guys punched me or got violent. After all, I was a reservation Indian, and no matter how geeky and weak I appeared to be, I was still a potential killer" ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"akb1okn3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Alexie)","plainCitation":"(Alexie)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"MOunXqSF/pCO4Xi8n","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"itemData":{"id":547,"type":"book","abstract":"An all-new edition of the tragicomic smash hit which stormed the New York Times bestseller charts, now featuring an introduction from Markus Zusak.In his first book for young adults, Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, featuring poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, is based on the author's own experiences. It chronicles contemporary adolescence as seen through the eyes of one Native American boy.'Excellent in every way' Neil GaimanIllustrated in a contemporary cartoon style by Ellen Forney.","ISBN":"978-1-4481-8856-7","language":"en","note":"Google-Books-ID: LE8DDQAAQBAJ","number-of-pages":"226","publisher":"Andersen Press Limited","source":"Google Books","title":"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian","author":[{"family":"Alexie","given":"Sherman"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",9,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Alexie 63). In this quote, Junior tells that due to his ethnicity, he has been perceived as a killer in the white community at high school. This is because of the myth that Indians are uncivilized and savages with basic instincts of an animal and they would do anything for their right of self-preservation. This shows that Indians are only judged this way because of their racial difference.

“And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian you start believing you're destined to be poor” ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"IetEhd6m","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Alexie)","plainCitation":"(Alexie)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"MOunXqSF/pCO4Xi8n","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/6IYUNXI2"],"itemData":{"id":547,"type":"book","abstract":"An all-new edition of the tragicomic smash hit which stormed the New York Times bestseller charts, now featuring an introduction from Markus Zusak.In his first book for young adults, Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, featuring poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, is based on the author's own experiences. It chronicles contemporary adolescence as seen through the eyes of one Native American boy.'Excellent in every way' Neil GaimanIllustrated in a contemporary cartoon style by Ellen Forney.","ISBN":"978-1-4481-8856-7","language":"en","note":"Google-Books-ID: LE8DDQAAQBAJ","number-of-pages":"226","publisher":"Andersen Press Limited","source":"Google Books","title":"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian","author":[{"family":"Alexie","given":"Sherman"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",9,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Alexie 53).In this quote, Junior complains about him being poor and then he realizes that poverty comes from being ugly and an Indian. He feels that as an Indian, he deserves to be poor. This gives rise to the theme of racism as being poor is depicted to be associated with ethnicity.

Conclusion

The theme of racism is prevalent throughout the whole book. Three instances prove my point according to which Indians are treated as savages who are less likely to experience pain and torment, and their poverty is associated with Indian ethnicity. This makes the readers wonder about the trend of racism in this century and how it is still a challenge for people with a different ethnicity to survive in this world.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Andersen Press Limited, 2016.