4。2 Absurdity 14

Conclusion 15

References 16

1。 Introduction

1。1 Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie, born on October 7, 1966, is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and filmmaker。 In addition, Alexie is a stand-up comedian, a songwriter, a screenwriter and producer。 He is voted by both The New Yorker and Granta as one of the best American writers under forty。

Sherman Alexie is the most widely read American Indian writer in the world。 Much of his writing draws on his experiences as an American Indian。Some comments says: “His work carries the weight of five centuries of colonization, retelling the American Indian struggle to survive, painting a clear, compelling, and often painful portrait of modern Indian life。”[2]

The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a semi-autobiography of Sherman Alexie。 To know something about Alexie’s childhood and youth time can help readers to understand the novel better。 ShermanAlexie’s childhood is almost the same with the hero in the novel。 Alexie was born with hydrocephalus, a life-threatening condition marked by an abnormally large amount of cerebrospinal fluid in the cranial cavity。 At six months, he had to undergo brain surgery。 His doctors didn’t expect him to survivethe operation, and they said that even if he did, he would beseverely retarded。 Yet Alexie did survive, with his mental facultiesnot only intact, but also quite advanced。 He learned to read byage two, and was polishing off tomes like thekindergarten (though he only understood the last chapter)。In the novel, junior is also suffered from the same disease。 He grew up in WellPoint, a town on the 156,000-acre SpokaneIndian reservation in eastern Washington,where he was, frankly,"miserable。" His father, an alcoholic, often disappeared from home for days at a time。 His mother sewed quilts and clerked to support her six children。 As a boy,Alexie was teased mercilessly by the other reservation kids, who called him the “Globe”。In the novel, readers not only can see more details about the author’s childhood, but also can feel his positive attitude about his life。

The main part of the novel tells Junior’s struggle in Reardan, the all-white school attended by Alexie。 In order to obtain the required credits for college, Sherman Alexie chose to high school in Reardan, thirty miles off the reservation, where most of the students were white。 There, he flourished, becoming a star player (and the only Indian) on the school’s basketball team (ironically called the Reardan Indians), as well as the team captain, class president, and a member of the champion debate team。 He graduated with honors。 These are also the plots in novels。 The novel ends when Junior finishes his first semester。 At that time, he has become a star player and gotten good grades。论文网

1。2 The summary of the novel

The novel, which is based on the author's own experiences, tells the story of Junior, a boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, determining to take his future into his own hands。 The novel can be pided to three parts。

In the first part, junior records his life as a 14 year-old boy on the Reservation。 The introduction is detailed, which are about his family, pet, friends, neighborhood and school。 According to his description, his parents are both talented, but without chances, they live in a messy life in which they can even hardly to subsist their children。 It is not Hunger that is the saddest thing。 What really breaks junior’s heart is that he has too watch his father shot his best friend, his dog, to death because they can’t afford the medical fee when the dog is ill。