Confidence in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay Example

Do YOU have confidence? It takes a while for teenagers to grow confidence when everything in their life seems to be against them. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the main character’s confidence grows. Even though Junior, the main character, is unsure of himself at the beginning of the novel, he grows as a person and gains confidence throughout the story. Junior gains confidence socially, physically, and by standing up for himself. As Junior progresses throughout his teenage years, confidence becomes an important aspect of his growth as a person. 

Although at the beginning of the book Junior does not have many friends, he grows socially and makes more friends. This is first shown when Junior states, “I think Rowdy might be the most important person in my life. Maybe more important than my family” (Alexie 24). At this point in the novel, Rowdy is Junior’s only friend. Everyone on the reservation makes fun of him and Rowdy defends him in fights. He is not very confident with making friends, and no one likes him. Rowdy is the only person outside of his family that he talks to. Then at the end of the book, Junior remarks, “I belonged to that tribe… And to a tribe of basketball players…And the tribe of teenage boys'' (217). He realizes he has more friends. He has grown in his confidence to talk to others. Not only does he have a social circle of friends, but he also has a basketball circle of friends which shows how he grows socially and makes more friends. Therefore, this shows that because Junior changed schools, he gained more friends and more social confidence. He may have lost a friend, but as a result of that, he made more friends. 

Even though at the beginning of the book Junior does not stand up for himself, by the end of the book, he is confident to stand up for himself. As an example of this Junior says, “I got into my first fistfight when I was three years old, and I’d been in dozens since. My all-time record was five wins and one hundred and twelve losses'' (62). This shows that he has been in a lot of fights, but he has only won very few. He is not confident in his ability to fight and stand up for himself because he has never really stood up to anyone. Junior always makes others stand up for him and fight his fights. When Junior is finally in a situation where he realizes that no one can stand up for himself, something clicks inside him and he states, “Or maybe it was the most important moment of my life. Maybe I was telling the world that I was no longer a human target” (65). He is forced to stand up for himself when a guy at his school makes a racist remark towards him. Junior finally has the confidence to stand up for himself. He is telling the world that he is done being pushed around. As a result of Junior changing schools, getting picked on, and not having Rowdy stand up for him, he learns how to stand up for himself.

Even though at the beginning of the book Junior is unconfident in his physical ability, but at the end of the book, he gains more confidence. As an example of this, Junior says, “I almost didn’t try out for the Reardan basketball team. I just figured I wasn’t going to be good enough to make even the C squad” (135). Junior does not think he will make the team. He does not think he is good enough, and he thinks he will be a lot worse than the other players. He knows he was bad at basketball at his old school on the reservation, and he just sat on the bench in most of their games. Junior lacks confidence in his abilities. Then, “as the season went on, I became a freshman starter on a varsity basketball team. And, sure, all of my teammates were bigger and faster, but none of them could shoot like me” (179). Junior says this near the end of the book, and at the end of the basketball season. He gets better at basketball. Even though he is younger than most of his other teammates, he knows his worth. He acknowledges both sides of the argument. He knows his teammates are bigger and better than him, but he also knows that he is a better shooter than everyone else. This shows how Junior goes from being unconfident in his physical ability, to gaining confidence, and therefore improving in his physical ability.  

Throughout the novel, Junior, the main character, grows as a person and gains confidence, but in the beginning, he lacks confidence. He gains confidence socially, physically, and by standing up for himself. Throughout The Absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, all of the characters, but particularly Junior, grow in confidence. While many people lack confidence throughout their teenage years, confidence is an important trait to have as a person goes through life. If one does not have confidence they may miss out on chances and opportunities that they would otherwise take if one had confidence. In conclusion, confidence can help a person grow in multiple areas of thier life.