The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Arnold Spirit Junior was born with “water on his brain” resulting in him having physical problems. He had to wear glasses, he was skinny, had a big head and big feet. He also suffered from seizures, has a lisp, and stutters when he talks.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about Arnold wanting to go off the rez (Spokane Indian Reservation) to attend school at an all-white school so he doesn’t get killed on the rez. Arnold is criticized, and deemed a traitor to the Indians. The novel goes through Arnold’s life and the difficulties he must face with being an Indian, attending an all all-white school and not really belonging to either place.

I would use The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to analyze characters. Arnold changes throughout the story finding his identity. I would have the students compare and contrast how Arnold felt about himself in the comic he drew of himself at the beginning to how he feels about himself at the end of the story.

I would have a lesson on stereotypes for this book as well. There are a lot of stereotypical statements in this book about poor people, rich people, Indians, and in chapter one retards because of how he looks. I would teach the students labels, biases, and unfair judgments.

The students could also research the Spokane Indians before reading to better understand the way of life for this tribe so that they could better understand the novel.

There was a great quote in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, “Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.” I would have the students analyze this quote and compare it to their own life struggles with being an individual and doing what society expects of them.