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

As Goliath stomps his massive appendage onto the begrimed ground with thunderous volume and seismic repercussion, he bears his dishevelled teeth in a ghastly display of pleasure. With ostentatious confidence, he believes that David will succumb to his remarkable strength. However, despite his physique, his disadvantage, his own inner turmoil, David wins. In the same vein, Arnold Spirit overcomes the behemoth of barriers he faces in his personal and social life that stand menacingly in the way of a true perception of his identity. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie follows Arnold, a young Indigenous boy who leaves his reservation in pursuit of better education. Though he has good intentions, he faces numerous obstacles such as social conformity, intergenerational failure, and affliction within his personal life that contribute to the barrier he must overcome regarding his personal definition of identity. Within his predominantly white school, Arnold is treated with an immediate alienation and racist demeanour from peers and teachers, which add to the ongoing struggle he faces when also striving to garner acceptance at his reserve after being labelled a “traitor.” Simultaneously, his own personal grief, strife, and internal discord are heavily contributive to his struggle. Though it is arguable that adversity and racism are prevalent issues in his life, they are only constituents in Arnold’s broader conflict with his identity, which, like Goliath, is conquered as he develops a deeper understanding of his connection to his family, social and cultural communities, as well as the world at large.

Arnold’s struggle with identity rises to prevalence in the chapter “How to Fight Monsters”. In the chapter, Arnold attends his first days at Reardan, solidifying his decision to transfer after a forthright discussion with Mr. P, his geometry teacher. In his discussion, he directly grapples with the daunting reality that his reservation deprived those who lived on it from achieving their goals and ambitions, which ultimately lead him to make the hard decision to leave the reservation to pursue his education. At Reardan, Arnold is subjected to a substantial shift in cultural and, by extension, social norms and customs within the school community, those of which differ almost completely from the ones he had grown accustomed to during his time on the reservation. He quickly acknowledges this difference, remarking that, “Reardan was the opposite of the rez. It was the opposite of my family. It was the opposite of me.” (Alexie 61). Arnold feels that he does not correspond to the ideals of Reardan’s environment and is overwhelmed by the cultural differences and climates that are ubiquitous on the reserve in relation to Reardan’s. He also goes on to say, “I didn’t deserve to be there.” (Alexie 61). This conveys his internalisation of the racism that is associated with the levels of success among Indigenous populations. On the reservation, there are minimal expectations of success for those a part of the community, and this infectious lack of motivation has become pervasive on both systemic and interpersonal scales. It is this realisation that catalyses his struggle to consolidate his perception of identity and drives the overarching themes that stretch the duration of the novel. 

Arnold’s worldview undergoes a massive overhaul in order to attain a broader understanding of identity and its meaning. Arnold’s inner turmoil resonates with those across the world and expanses of life. Identity is a convoluted topic that is abundant with subjectivity and it can be reformed to better fit the complexity of one’s experiences. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to fall under the influence of external factors such as racism, adversity, grief, and affliction that contort this image into one that is unidentifiable. Arnold’s journey is a resounding example of the extent to which one can face these problems and how overcoming them is a matter of mindset, persistence, and hope. As he continues to progress through life, Arnold, and others like him, will continue to use their hope to defiantly overcome such obstacles and self-actualization. And as Goliath lets out a thunderous roar of anguish, David watches. The beast falls to the ground and all is done. David has won: not just for himself, but for his kin as well.