Comparing The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian And Smoke Signals
673 Words3 Pages
Anna Andress
Mr. Duncan
English 10 Honors
2 October 2015 Finding Identity During the Teenage Years After reading the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and watching the movie Smoke Signals, both by Sherman Alexie, multiple obvious similarities and overlaps can be found. The similar themes throughout both pieces complement each other, in the sense that each one helps to further explain the other. The search to find identity is described in depth in the book, unlike the movie where only a few pieces of this theme can be found. Comparing these two works by Alexie helps to understand some of the deeper meanings that are demonstrated through each storyline. A topic that seems to be the most prominent in each piece is the struggle to find identity, as stated before. For Arnold, the…show more content… Along with the predetermined struggle, Arnold’s path to finding himself is made even more difficult by his decision to attend school outside of the reservation. This causes considerable hatred from fellow Indians on the reservation, but quite the opposite from students at the new school. As Arnold slowly establishes himself at the new school, the students begin to respect him, and almost treat him as a hero. The contrasting behaviors from the two groups of people cause Arnold to contemplate who he is really as an Indian, and if he is even a “real” Indian at all. This same thought process from Arnold, can be found with the character Thomas in Smoke Signals. With the lack of a real father, or even any parent in general other than his grandmother, he strays from what some would consider “real” Indian behavior and appearance. During part of the story, Thomas is confronted by another character, Victor, and