Hossain 1
Ishraq Hossain
ELA9
Mrs. Cunningham
Wed, Dec 12, 2018
A Change For The Better
Towards the beginning of the novel, Junior, our protagonist, is somewhat witty,
whipsmart and immature. With clarity, he hates his life on the reservation, however, if there is
one thing he hates more than the Indians, it is the white people who make his life miserable. He
does not trust them and he is most afraid of them. Through the whole of Sherman Alexie's novel
" The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", Junior is gradually changing for the better
as he loses some of his fear and his innocence, and he gains social-emotional intelligence.
From the white dentist who doesn't give enough Novocaine, to the white teachers who are
either "liberal, white, vegetarian do-gooders" or "conservative, white missionary saviors" (30),
Junior was not only taught to hate white people but to be scared of them. He has only one
companion, and their friendship is probably largely established due to the fact that no one else
likes either one of them. In only one year, Junior encounters several things that change him
greatly. He attends Reardan High, which is a predominantly white school outside the reservation.
There, he meets kids like Penelope, Roger, and Gordy, who earn his trust through their
graciousness. He learns to stop concealing his true self, which is a very smart yet also very poor
Indian kid. With support from his friends and family, Junior loses his insecurities and his fear. It
is not exactly correct that he loses his fears. Rather, he accepts the challenges in his life. He
Hossain 2
focuses on art to work express his emotions. He takes action based on what he wants to achieve
and makes the best of each condition. He is a star on the Reardon basketball team and must play
against his former high school and best friend. In front of his entire reservation, he valiantly
plays his heart out and wins for Reardan. These lead to a brief loss of his best mate Rowdy.
Junior first gets a taste of the truth when he experiences the death of his little poor dog,
Oscar; not yet realizing that his childhood innocence would soon still be stolen from him. Key
events that take place over the course of the year are an arrangement of surprising and disastrous
deaths that directly influence Junior. To begin with, his grandmother is hit b...
