Junior in a Part-Time Indian Novel

Blame frequently plays a part in controversies often seen in novels and other stories, as it stirs up tension that quickly boils and explodes. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior, the first-person protagonist in the novel, suffered the many deaths of his friends and family. He felt unsure about his level of success in Reardan because of the social stereotype that he and other Indians are built to lose to others. He felt alienated by the tribe members he abandoned, who accused him of associating with white people.

He felt guilty for breaking and challenging the social divide set up between the Indians and whites. These guilt-based feelings causesJunior to blame himself for the deaths in the tribe during times of hardships, believing that he had caused curses to land upon his family and friends, and implies the lack of acceptance seen in the social infrastructure of the Indian community.

The social stereotype for Indians to fail discouraged Junior greatly and caused him to think that he did not belong in Reardan, which lead to self-doubt, a major ingredient used to contribute to the guilt he feels later.

With thoughts of failure in his mind, Juniorfelt insecure about attending school at Reardan, the predominantly white school twenty- three miles away from the reservation. Even though he was aware of his high level of intellect, he still doubted his ability to excel and succeed in a school outside of the reservation. His selfdoubt came primarily from the fact that he was the only Indian beside the school mascot in a Caucasian environment and that he came from an impoverished family, which indicated his perception of an unaccepting and discriminating society.

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This View Junior had on society as a whole reflected on the social acceptance on the reservation. Junior exited his comfort zone back on the reservation and entered a completely new and unfamiliar place to find hope, even though he lacked hope for himself.

He felt as if he “didn’t deserve to [go to Reardan]“ and that “Indians don’t deserve shit”, showing his doubts and concerns. His half<willingness to believe in himself and his knowledge of the fact that he would be “pummeled”, “mutilated”, and “crucified” if he returned to Wellpinit, the school on the reservation he used to attend, leaves him trapped in an ocean of question marks. As a result from this uncertainty, Junior felt unconfident and insecure, which are the components that build up the base of his guilt. Accused of abandoning his tribe and its culture by leaving the reservation and attending a white school, therefore making him “a white lover”, Junior found himself to be alienated by his fellow Indians. His best friend, Rowdy, “shoved [him]” and called him a “retarded fag” when told that Junior would be attending Reardan, while others saw him as a villain for associating himself with the white people, who took away everything the indians once had from them.

As a misfit both at school and on the reservation, Junior felt secluded, which is a feeling that further accumulates onto the already-created base made of uncertainty and insecurity. Junior’s isolation is a direct effect that resulted from him leaving the reservation, as many Indians saw this as a break of tradition and therefore ignored him for his betrayal. This growth of uncertainty, insecurity, and loneliness caused by society gradually built up on Junior, and the deaths in his tribe make this stack of negative feelings explode, causing him to blame himself in a frantic search for an answer as to why they died. He felt guilty for leaving the reservation, as it was not acceptable for him to be associating with white people, who took everything away from the Indians years ago. There was no room for anyone to go against the Indian traditions, and Junior was being guilt-tripped for trying to defy this tradition. By being constantly accused of betraying his tribe and its traditions and pestered by his own feelings of doubt, Junior felt guilty for going against the flow.

Though Junior did not feel guilty throughout the novel, he does have an imposed feeling of insecurity and isolation and later blames himself when grieving and facing difficulties. After Eugene’s death, Junior “blamed [himself] for all the deaths” and believed that he had “cursed his family” by betraying his tribe. To add to his self-blame, Rowdy claimed that Mary “[was] dead because [Junior] left [the tribe]” (211), further making Junior believe that the deaths were indeed his fault. Junior is caught between and lost in two worlds, leading to feelings of insecurity that later builds up to become guilt, which he used to blame himself for the deaths of his loved ones. The guilt originally caused by the social divide between Indian and white people implies that there is a societal structure in which the two groups are not to associate themselves with one another, and Junior‘s attempt to break this implication causes the resulting feeling of guilt. This guilt causes Junior’s seemingly illogical thoughts of him being the indirect cause of the deaths, suggesting that the society in which he lives in plants these thoughts into him through blame and alienation.

The question thatJunior has to face now is what he should do with these feelings of guilt and blame. He wants to find hope and he knows he will not find it conforming to the norm of the ”rez”. Ultimately, he seems to come to the conclusion that he will always stand out in some way. He is geeky-looking, has speech issues, and is intelligent» all things that originally make him a target of bullying and ostracizing. He is now alienated for choosing a different life for himself. In the end, Junior needed to realize that he might never escape the feelings of blame and guilt because he is going against everything he knows, but he cannot let it hold him back. People in his tribe that do not support him think its because he is selling out and going against tradition. instead, maybe he is merely recreating his own definition of what it means to be a successful Indian.