Comparative

I’ve finished reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. There were several happy endings in this part but my favourite was when Roger figured out who he was and did something different than the kids at the reservation. He was unique and decided to prove to himself that he was unique and could become a “somebody” in this world regardless of his race. He also took the risk of going to an all white school and lost his best friend. However he learned that he could have a career in basketball and try out different things all while being with his tribe and doing things other than what the kids at the reservation do. Arnold says, “I’d never guessed I’d be a good basketball player...I mean I’d always been the lowest Indian on the reservation...” (Alexie, 179-180). I think that Arnold thought because he was an Indian he did not have the privilege to get a high society level job, but by the end of the book, he learns that regardless of his race he can choose to be whoever he wants. When Arnold’s grandmother Spirit and his sister die I feel sympathy for him because they were both an inspiration to him. When he spoke to his grandmother, she gave him advice and his sister was just an overall inspiration for him to also follow his dreams. After that he starts to realize that, “I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms. And to the tribe of cartoonists. And to the tribe of chronic masturbators.
And the tribe of teenage boys. And the tribe of small-town kids. And the tribe of Pacific Northwesterners. And the tribe of tortilla chips-and-salsa lovers. And the tribe of poverty.
And the tribe of funeral goers. And the tribe of beloved sons. And the tribe of boys who really missed their best friends” (217). I think that Arnold is starting to accept everything about him and it does not matter to him what the others