Author's Purpose
An award-winning author, poet, and filmmaker, Sherman Alexie was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists and has been lauded by the Boston Globe as "an important voice in American literature." One of the most well-known and beloved literary writers of his generation, his works of fiction, including Reservation Blues and short story collections Ten Little Indians and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, have received numerous awards and citations. However, one book that is neglected in this list is, his The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in which he writes of a 14 year old Indian boy whose name is Arnold, although everyone calls him Junior. Arnold, throughout this book, writes and draws about his life. He tells us as the readers what his life is like, as well as what he does and what he thinks. At the first glance, this book may not seem all that interesting. However, as you read through every word and think about what the book is saying and what Arnold is saying, you realize that this imaginary life of Arnold is all too real. As you look around you in the real world, you realize that this book is no fiction, in fact many native american's that still live on reservations deal with a lot of the problems that Arnold deals with in the book: alcohol, not fitting in, poverty, and much more. Sherman Alexie wrote this book carefully thinking about every letter of every word of every page, because he sees that there are so many things wrong with what our society today has become and because he wanted it to have a fair bit of humor. All in all, Sherman Alexie wrote this book more as an awakening to help us see truly what is wrong with the way native american's are treated and live as well as to help us to try to guide our minds in a directions that is more focused on fixing it.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Absolutely_True_Diary_of_a_Part-Time_Indian
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Barcott3-t.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/banned-absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Absolutely_True_Diary_of_a_Part-Time_Indian
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Barcott3-t.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/banned-absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian/