The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian
Mid-Term Essays 1. There are several ways that Mr. P and the white man that showed up at Grandmother Spirit’s funeral are alike. For instance, they both care about Indians and like the culture. Although Mr. P and the white man had a few similarities, they were also different in that Mr. P actually cares about Junior and wants him to be a successful Indian and to motivate others. But, when Mr. P was a younger teacher he used to hurt a lot of Indian kids by beating them if they were rowdy. Mr. P was taught to kill Indian culture he used physical action to do so. Ted honestly did care about Indians he even collected Indian art.
2. By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe. Junior draws because he wants to talk to the world. He wants the world to pay attention to him. By Junior saying that “Who my parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dream” he means that the reservation creates or makes you feel like you’re not able to succeed, that maybe if somebody cared enough to motivate them they might be what they dreamed of. Junior draws because he feels like it might be his only real chance to escape the reservation maybe even be a famous artist. Junior’s cartoons show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s life. Because almost all of the rich and famous brown people are artists he thinks that’s the only way he can become rich and famous. Junior said “My cartoons are tiny little lifeboats” to describe how important it is to him.
3. When Junior is in Reardon the little white town, he is “half-Indian”, and when he is in Wellpinit his home reservation, he is “half white”. “It was like being Indian was my job,” he says, “but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.” I think by Junior pretended to have more money than he does because he wanted fit in at Reardon. He lies about being full Indian, about being poor, and about his history and situation. After taming the bully, jock of
2. By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe. Junior draws because he wants to talk to the world. He wants the world to pay attention to him. By Junior saying that “Who my parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dream” he means that the reservation creates or makes you feel like you’re not able to succeed, that maybe if somebody cared enough to motivate them they might be what they dreamed of. Junior draws because he feels like it might be his only real chance to escape the reservation maybe even be a famous artist. Junior’s cartoons show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s life. Because almost all of the rich and famous brown people are artists he thinks that’s the only way he can become rich and famous. Junior said “My cartoons are tiny little lifeboats” to describe how important it is to him.
3. When Junior is in Reardon the little white town, he is “half-Indian”, and when he is in Wellpinit his home reservation, he is “half white”. “It was like being Indian was my job,” he says, “but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.” I think by Junior pretended to have more money than he does because he wanted fit in at Reardon. He lies about being full Indian, about being poor, and about his history and situation. After taming the bully, jock of