Doing the Impossible

By downtoearth

You have probably heard of the Black Lives Matter movement. News about the horrible Police-related deaths have shaken the nation and made us question society. There is another group that gets much, much less attention than it deserves. That is the 2.7 million Native Americans living in the United States. A good chunk of these people are living in poverty. Hoping to get out of poverty isn’t going to get you anywhere. Heck, hope doesn’t do anything at all. It is the action that results from the hope that will get things done. This is what Junior embodies in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

When Junior goes to Rearden, that is him acting on his goal of escaping his poverty and terrible life on the Rez. On the other hand, Rowdy just sits and stews in his anger and never tries to work it out. Junior refuses to get marginalized in his new school. He ends up meeting a group of new more supportive friends and community, and when he runs into problems at the end, they are there to support him.

Junior acts like a great friend to his friends in the book, but also to you as the reader. The way that Sherman Alexie makes Junior talk as if you were right there in front of you is captivating. It isn’t as if you are watching from afar, you are right there in the action. One of my favorites was when Junior said, “Yep, those bastards were making fun of my brain disorder. Charming, huh?” This sounds exactly like something I would say to one of my friends (minus the brain disorder part, of course). It feels like you could respond to this by saying something along the lines of, “yeah, I know, right,” or “what terrible people!” Using dialogue like this, Junior takes you on his journey through his life, and as time goes on, you can see that he starts to appreciate what he does have instead of what he doesn’t.

My takeaway from this book is that hope isn’t physical. Hope alone doesn’t get you anywhere unless you rely on random chance. You have to act on that hope to achieve. You have to say to yourself, “I am going to change right now and not wait any longer.” Instead of giving up and saying, “I wish I had more money and a better life,” Junior went out and achieved his goals. He went to Rearden which allowed him to learn and grow as a person because he was treated with (mostly) respect instead of being bullied and poorly taught. This is such a great skill to have because it gets you places, you don’t rely on others to do so. Many people portrayed in the book flopped in life because they thought it was impossible to get out of such a depressing life on the reservation. Junior’s old reservation teacher, Mr. P, backs this up by saying at the start of the book, “‘The only thing you kids are being taught is how to give up. Your friend Rowdy, he’s given up. That’s why he likes to hurt people. He wants them to feel as bad as he does.’”

Mr. P filled the role of the quest-giver takes in fantasy books. He is the wise man who gave light to the situation and told Junior what to do. This kickstarted Junior’s realization of his life and what inspired him to escape the reservation lifestyle. In a way, Junior is kind of the “Knight” who took on and achieved the impossible.

Junior pioneered the front to escape. He stood up and walked out, very much to the disbelief of his family and friends. His depiction of hope was a white pegasus flying away. Catching something while it is flying is near impossible, but that is what Junior is all about. Penelope also represents hope in a similar way, because it seemed very unlikely that the new kid from the reservation would be friends with the “popular girl.” She was the one that made most of the other kids at Rearden like Junior, which was crucial in his development at his new school. Junior’s peers were the ones that made him who he is. His sister Mary, Rowdy, his teachers, the kids at Rearden, all influenced him in one way or another. Your family and friends make you who you are. Junior was lucky enough to have great people in his life, as was I, and I hope you do too. Just make sure they are good ones, alright?