The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Essay Final Draft

Angelica Norma Haro

English 102, DeWit

March 7, 2014

MW 9:30-11:45am

Lone Survivor

      Have you ever been stuck in a tunnel, and the only light that you could see was the one within you? Have you ever thought about what happiness really is? Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it. No one ever said life would be easy, nor did they say success would be so sweet. The obstacles we face each day are just blessing in which we must face and change our view and mindset, so that we can learn to appreciate and experience life. Even though we must fight a battle with ourselves and life, it’s a fight worth battling. Through the struggles we face and the experiences we encounter we learn who we are and what we stand for, although many never will know who they truly are or what they stand for, it is something we all yearn for, to be somebody, someone who leaves an impact of on society. We all die; the goal is not to live forever, but to create something that does. We all want the acceptance of our society, community and family, we do not want to be considered different, because different may not be acceptable. The longest journey begins with one step of courage, the courage to aspire to greater heights than that that people would never imagine you to accomplish, the courage to keep fighting no matter how hard life may get. Alexie's character Arnold is going through life and  has many obstacles with himself and life that he must face, and not let the worries and conflicts of life drown him while trying to still move ahead in life and be accepted by the community and society. Arnold has the desire to inspire the inner self within him, the ability to face life’s struggles and approach life with a new perspective, while holding on to the hopes and dreams in him, he manages to stay afloat and not only that, but to be able to swim through life. 

      We all want to make something of ourselves. We all want to be noticed by society and feel as if our life has meaning, value and importance. “So I draw because I want to talk to the world. And I want the world to pay attention to me… So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation” (Alexie 6).  Arnold wants to feel like his life has meaning and is important to those around him. Arnold feels like the only escape he has from reality and the struggles is drawing. Drawing is a way he can leave the world’s problems without actually having to leave; it is a way where he can express himself without ridicule from his community and society. It is an outlet that keeps him positive and ambitious towards his dreams and hopes in life. Arnold does not want to sink like those who have lost hope, for example his sister Mary. “Mary was a bright and shining star, Mr. P said. And then she faded year by year until you could barely see her anymore” (Alexie 40). Mary was unable to hold on to her dreams, and like many she was unable to swim through the waves of life. Arnold does not want to be like his sister and his fellow Indians that have lost everything that ever kept them moving ahead in life. Arnold wants to be somebody and wants to be able to escape the reservation; he does not want to be held back by the problems there, so he decides to make a change, a change where his community and society may reject him, but the possibilities that come from that change help his dreams stay alive and help him keep his hopes high.

      “You’ve been fighting since you were born, he said. You fought off that brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts. You kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope” (Alexie 43). Mr. P’s conversation with him inspired him to make a change for the better. That change you may ask, that change was Reardan. Arnold decides that if he is going to be able to make it through life he has to go where there is hope, and hope can be found at Reardan. He is a fighter it is in him to fight, and be able to conquer the obstacles put in front of him.  “And I was making the attempt, too. And maybe it would kill me, too, but I knew that staying on the rez would have killed me, too” ( Alexie 216). Arnold is willing to make the attempt to follow his dreams and hopes even if he may risk his life. He knows that if he does not try and leave the rez he could possibly die, metaphorically and actually. Staying on the rez would just kill and suffocate the hope in him and keep him from achieving his goals. It is the killer of dreams, aspirations and hope. You must fight to stay alive.

      Life has many challenges and has its own path it follows. You may not accept the things that must happen and you may not agree with life, but life has its purposes of doing things. “I mean, I can’t even tell you how I found the strength to get up every morning. And yet, every morning, I did get up and go to school” (Alexie 173). Arnold lost very significant people in his life, Eugene, Mary and his grandmother, they gave him hope and now that they were gone he felt like his life had lost meaning and that his hope had diminished, but somehow some way he was still able to get up every morning and keep moving along. Although he did not want to, he had the will power within him to keep going. “I have to prove that I am stronger than everybody else. I have to prove that I will never give up. I will never quit playing hard. And I don’t just mean in basketball. I’m never going to quit living life this hard, you know? I’m never going to surrender to anybody. Never, ever, ever” ( Alexie 186).  Arnold  knows that if he were to give up, he would not be only giving up on himself, but all those who believed in him, his grandmother, Eugene, Mary, his parents, and Mr. P. He knows that to get through life you have to be tough back with it, you can’t let it overcome you, you cannot ever surrender to anything that is put up against you. Every obstacle one faces is just another stepping stone to their dreams and hopes. Reardan and Willpint game was awakening to him, it made him realize that if he put his strength and everything that’s within him he could accomplish greater things in life. It made him believe in the person he wants to become.
 
      “I realized I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream...It was a huge realization. And that’s when I knew that I was going to be okay. But it also reminded me of the people who were not going to be okay” ( Alexie 217). Arnold soon comes to realize that he is not split in two; he realizes that he can still be Indian and go to a white school, because he does not only belong to one tribe, but to many tribes of people who were fighting to keep their dreams alive and follow them. He learns to accept the fact that not everybody is going to be okay, that not everyone has the will power to follow their dreams and that not everyone will be able to swim. “I always knew you were going to leave us behind and travel the world. I had this dream about you a few months ago. You were standing on the Great Wall of China. You looked happy. And I was happy for you… you’re an old-time nomad” (Alexie 229-230). Rowdy was one of the people that brought great joy to him. Rowdy comes to realize that Arnold was being a true Indian and not a half breed. Arnold hearing these words from Rowdy gave him even more strength to keep doing what he was doing. It gave him the courage to be nomadic, to be changing and growing as a person, an individual who he is. It gave him hope, hope is the only thing stronger than fear.

      “We could see our entire world, at that moment, was green and golden and perfect… I’ve never seen anything that pretty” ( Alexie 228). As Rowdy and him climb the tree he knows it is a big risk to take he knows he could possibly get hurt, but even after examining all the risks, he still decides to go through with it. This tree signifies life and how life has many phases. It also resembles the risks in which we must take to be able to make our aspirations a reality.  Arnold is able to appreciate the beauty of life and not only that but the beauty of rez. He knows that the rez holds beauty and that sometimes it may be hard to see but as soon as you open your eyes and see it from a different view there’s a tranquility and finesse about the rez.  “I would always love Rowdy. And I would always miss him, too. Just as I would always love and miss my grandmother, my big sister, Eugene. Just as I would always love and miss my reservation and my tribe” (Alexie 230). Arnold is able to accept the fact that even though he left he would always miss where he came from and is proud of where he came from. He’s able to make amends with the conflict he had been having within him. He knows that leaving is not as bad as it were to be thought of, but that it would open new doors and opportunities to be able to reach and accomplish his goals, dreams and hopes. “Despite being burned at the dump, and burned again in the lake of fire, Stupid Horse was untouched” (Alexie 224). Stupid Horse signifies hope and that no matter what it has encountered it is unbreakable. It signifies the hope in Arnold, the hope he has for his dreams and the hope he has to make someone of himself.  The tree and Stupid Horse together perfectly describe life. Although you may think you have no options, no hope, that you have nothing; however you do, you have the little light within you that keeps you going.  They signify the unreachable, and the potential that’s within Arnold.

      That light, you may ask what it is? It is hope. The only thing that keeps you battling life, reaching for yours goals and dreams, and gives light to your eyes to be able to see the world in a different aspect and teaches you to swim.  Arnold a tough teenager that no matter what he was handed he was able to make the best of it. Arnold never gave up on himself, or on his community or rez, he had enough hope for all of those that had lost it. He was able to make amends with his double conscious. Although you may not fit your communities or societies norms, it is okay somewhere in life there is a place for you. Keep striving for your dreams and keep fighting for what you deserve. Admire all the beauty around you, appreciate the hardships you face. Turn all the bad, negativity, and hardships into something positive, something worth living for, something to put your hope in. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is great example of how many of us struggle to keep our head over the water, how many of us are too scared to learn to swim, that we just become content with staying afloat, but not Arnold he decided to beat the odds, and he learned to swim through life, keep his hopes and dreams alive and see the world through multiple perspectives. “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor”(Alexie 148).