Blog Number Four

In my book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we meet a American Indian who lives in a reservation, Junior. He knows that his family is poor, so everyday he hopes to get food. At the same time he says its okay because when they get food, he says it tastes better. He has this white best friend named Rowdy, he claims they have been friends since birth. Then one day at the school, he opens up a book, he sees that his own mother wrote the history book. He becomes angry because he knows that the school is so poor that they cannot afford real books. Junior then becomes very mad, all he wanted to do was hit something, instead he accidentally threw the book at his teachers face, and broke his nose. Mr. P, conferences with Junior, he discusses how he deserved it.

In my book, there is a conflict, Man vs. Self. In the book, Mr. P tells Junior that he needs to get out of the rez, because even Mr. P is tired of trying to get rid of Indians, that he should follow his dreams. Now Junior, he is stuck between leaving his best friend Rowdy and starting a "better life" or staying in the rez where Rowdy protects him from other white people. Junior draws a picture of his house, with two arrows pointed to it, one saying "Rez" and the other saying "Home" then on the other side of the pole he writes "Hope" and "???". If he moves, he knows it will be expensive, but he also knows if he leaves, the Indians will be angry with him if they ever come back. His mother tells him "You'll be the first one to ever leave the rez this way, the Indians around here are going to be angry with you." This proves that it will be hard for him to just transfer school, he stuck between being with people who accept him with not enough education or with people who treat him like a nobody and have little more education.