The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian

One thing Arnold does not do is complain. Even though he was “born with water on the brain”, gigantic feet, ten more teeth then normal, stutter and a lisp, Arnold still doesn’t complain though. Just because he does not complain does not mean he loves the life he was given. Junior still thinks life would have been much easier if he was white. He tends to put himself down quit often. Alexie Sherman illustrates what differences there are between the Indians and the white people.

Indians covered their private parts with their tiny hands” (Alexie 11). Saying that Indians have tiny hands indicates that the whites had bigger hands therefore meaning that they were more powerful and/or superior over the whites. Another thing Alexie Sherman shows the readers is that Arnold has very low self-esteem because he’s used to people calling him retarded so often that he starts to believe he really is.

And then you’d be wondering why you’re reading a story written by uch a retard” (Alexie 4). It shows that Arnold doesn’t have that much confidence in himself and he believes Indians are treated the way they are because they deserve to be. Alexie Sherman is saying that Indians don’t be live that white people are truly better then Indians. “Some Indians think you become white if you try to make your life better, if you become successful” (Alexie 131).

This shows how Indians have lost all hope for themselves and that’s probably why they don’t even ry to make their lives better, because no matter what they do they still aren’t as good as the Indians. Some of the Spokane Indians believe if one Indian becomes successful then he is no longer an Indian but instead a white. In conclusion Alexie Sherman uses alot of metaphor does/says many things to express how the Spokane Indians feel about themselves and how they have low self-esteem. And because of this many Indians think they can’t get anywhere far in life.