Junior Character Analysis in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay Example

At the beginning of the book, Junior was very self-conscious of himself. He saw himself very negatively. First off, he saw himself as dumb. He called himself a retard “You’d be wondering why you’re reading a story written by such a retard”,(4). Next, he saw himself as hopeless. He talks about how he is hopeless because he is an Indian, and how he belongs in a cycle of misery. “It sucks to be poor. And it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid because you’re Indian. And because you are Indian, you start believing that you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly cycle and there’s nothing you can do about it”,(13). Lastly, he saw himself as weird. He had 42 teeth, (2), he was skinny, had a big head, hands and feet, (3). Also, he had a stutter and a lisp, (4). Since Junior viewed himself in such harsh ways ranging from his looks, intelligence and ambitions, he demonstrates himself very negatively at the beginning of the book. (From my point of view, often people’s self-esteem is very much affected by their financial status and their physical appearance which can have a positive or negative effect on that person) (Does anyone have any thoughts to share?) In the middle of the book, Junior faced several huge obstacles before he began to change. He was overreliant. (I remember when I was 8, I used to watch a show called Ninjago, and I clearly remember a sensei named Garmadon who always told his students, to “never put too much faith in something because when we rely on something too much, we become weak, vulnerable and imbalanced”). He relied on Rowdy to protect him from bullies rather than protecting himself. Throughout the book, Junior was bullied quite frequently. On the rez, kids would call him things such as “Orbit” or “Globe”, (3). He has also been beaten up a lot. We know this because at the beginning of the book he said that he belonged to the black eye of the month club. Since Junior was overreliant on Rowdy for protection and that he was bullied frequently, this proves that he faced several huge obstacles before he began to change. At the end of the story, Junior changed in a positive way. He became more intelligent. When he went to Reardan, he became friends with Gordy, who taught him how to study, tutored him, introduced him to literature, and challenged him, (98). Then on (214), Junior showed his report card and it had good grades meaning Gordy’s teaching worked. Next, Junior became more confident. At the beginning of the book, before he went to Reardan, he solely depended on Rowdy to protect him, (17). That changed when he went to Reardan and was approached by a big kid named Roger. Roger gave racist comments to Junior, insulting the existence of natives “Indians”. However, Rowdy wasn’t there to protect him, he stood up for himself and punched Roger in the face,(65). This signifies that Junior gained confidence from depending on someone, to becoming independent. In conclusion, from the beginning to the end of the book, Junior changed in two major ways. His improved intelligence was displayed when he showed his report card. His improved confidence was shown when he stood up to someone instead of relying on someone to protect him. Both of these scenes highlight the fact that by the end of the book, he had changed in a positive way. The central theme of the text is that it takes courage to persevere. Junior wasn’t happy that he was limiting himself from his ambitions. He wanted to find hope in his life so he had to step out of his comfort zone which takes courage. This was shown when he wanted to go to Reardan, an all-white school, (45). Despite his best friend viewing him as a traitor and the other Indian kids viewing him as an outcast, (55). Junior persevered through it and came out with a new and improved version of himself. Since Junior wanted to find hope despite the fact that he had to step out of his comfort zone and that he was viewed as a traitor by the other natives on his reservation, he persevered through this and found a better version of himself. This clearly demonstrates the fact that the central theme of the text is that it takes courage to persevere. (This theme also serves as a great life lesson which is to not let one bad thing bring you down. You must be courageous and keep moving forward no matter what stands before you. It could be one bad mark, maybe something that got lost, the death of a family member, you must never stop moving forward in order to reach your goal.