Worth

Hoang Tran

English 102

Worth

            The worth of one person can never be truly described by anyone in any form of words or actions. So how does someone who’s been beaten down by society rise from the slums to determine he is worth more than what people tell him? Perseverance, Arnold or “Junior” at first believes that he isn’t worth anything and is just living through his miserable life. At first it was fairly simple for him to just go through life, but as he noticed that he was up in line to “die” with the rest of the Native Americans he went to do something drastic to keep his worth or life above water and from being submerged. As a reader I understood the story, but while analyzing this amazing story I noticed that not only did Arnold keep his head above water, but he has also kept other people floating as well. In the end Arnold is a savior to not only himself, but also the people he has been with through finding his worth with perseverance.

            Arnold is a strong individual, but in the beginning of his life was slowly being submerged in the dying society of “Native Americans”. When I read this book The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Arnold was already criticizing himself by talking about his body features, his brain disorder, and worse of all he talked about how he doesn't like being Native American already. This just showed how much he didn't like his life and he was ready to “Die” with the rest of the Indians because of these features of his. I don't blame him for thinking the way he does, but I am quite surprised he hasn't given up yet, nevertheless he persevered through many stages of hardship and helped others on the way.

            Oscar dying was the first situation that helped Arnold figure out what his “worth” was to the reservation and how much he means to the Spokane community. When he said that his dog was his best friend was understandable because dogs are mans best friend, so why should it be different for Native Americans? Well Oscar his best friend/dog died and that caused Arnold to want to kill himself. I said all of that because I just want to emphasize how important I feel this moment is because that is when Arnold knows he is worth nothing and that killing himself wont make a difference so he might as well just live and persevere through this moment of life he could call an experience. He got through this experience and he grew from it because he knows that killing himself wont change anything, but rather make everything worse for the people around him. So what he did was “gut it out” (16) which is exactly what he did throughout this story.

            Arnolds’ human best friend Rowdy was the main reason why Arnold didn't fully submerge even at the hardest time. Now like his name Rowdy was a tough kid, but at the same time he is still a teen and is struggling him self. I believe that Arnold helped Rowdy as much as Rowdy helped Arnold. The first time Rowdy helped Arnold in the book was through Oscar’s death and that is a big significance because Arnold literally wanted to kill himself. Rowdy had many reasons why he acts the way he is and if it isn’t for Arnold then Rowdy would probably be not just a bully, but a big failure with absolutely no hope. Arnold helping Rowdy helped him self, the reason is because Arnold never felt significant in the beginning. Arnold thought of him self as a burden and insignificant. Helping Rowdy made Arnold realize that he is doing something to help and that made him feel like he was worth something. “A few days after basketball season ended, I e-mailed Rowdy and told him I was sorry that we beat them so bad” would be a great example of how their friendship is because no matter how much they go through and how much Arnold went through because of Rowdy (Example: Rowdy giving Arnold a black eye for leaving to Reardan and gave him a concussion during the basketball game) Arnold still feels like he is still needed by Rowdy and loves him as a friend.

            Mr. P was the epiphany to Arnolds’ life. Mr. P told Arnold “If you stay on the rez, they’re going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. We’re all going to kill you. You cant fight us forever.”(43) Arnold already knew that him being a Native American was bad, but he didn't really realize that their were people causing this to happen and that Arnold could change it. Mr. P was the 2+2 in the equation and when Arnold left the reservation to go to Reardan to change the path of forever being submerged he found the answer of 4. Mr. P created an opportunity for Arnold because Mr. P knew that Arnold is sick and tired of being useless and or worthless. So that is the reason why Mr. P chose Arnold out of everyone to tell this big secret. In doing that Mr. P felt a lot better because he was leading someone off the path of death. I loved Mr. P’s decision because if it weren’t for him, Arnold would have slowly turned into part of the “dead”.

            Moving to Reardan to Arnold was like climbing the tree with Rowdy near Turtle Lake. “Our entire world, at that moment, was green and golden and perfect.”(225), that would be the perfect line for when he moved to Reardan. The tree was  over one hundred feet could be compared to Reardan being a long shot from what he would have “climbed”. Although at first Reardan was difficult to handle because of the white to Native American ratio wasn't very appealing, Arnold still went there just like how the tree was very tall and out of the way to climb Arnold still climbed it. It was hard at first, but when he reached to the end he saw everything in such a different perspective and that helped Arnold realize he is so much more than just a “Native American”. He knew that Reardan was a school for the more privileged, but he still went and he got a prize for it, not being submerged. He realized that he belonged to more than one tribe and although his background may have caused him to be weary of doing the things he do like trying not to go to the winter formal because he didn't have enough money, Arnold still went because that's who he is. If it wasn't for this very perseverance he has then he has no hell in chance of ever getting his head far out of the water.

            In Reardan, Arnold met many great friends, but out of all of them Penelope had the greatest impact on him. At first Arnold helped her through her because she felt like she was on a pedestal all the time, so she had to act perfect. By helping her, he found himself in a relationship that helped him gain popularity in Reardan, I believe that because of Penelope she helped Arnold through a tough obstacle. Instead of judging him wholeheartedly Penelope felt bad for him being in such poverty. Not only that Arnold and Penelope would be the Yin and Yang because they are opposites, yet they have some things in common like the Yin and the Yang. Penelope was rich and people expected a lot from her, but she wanted to leave what she has and explore the world. Arnold on the other hand was poor and no one expected much from him, but he did leave what he had and explored something different. Either way, Arnold inspired Penelope and at the same time she helped him fit in another tribe he calls a high school.  

            The family member that helped him the most would be his Grandma through his struggle of leaving the ocean of despair. Although his Grandma died and that caused him to somewhat fall a couple steps back towards the water, he learned a lot from her to keep him out of devils eye. His grandma taught him something that would help with anybody of race, color, social background, and or culture. She taught him tolerance. If it weren’t for tolerance he could have whiplashed at his dad for being a drunk, but he didn't because he knows that negativity would only bring upon more negativity. If it weren’t for tolerance he would have given up playing against the school he should have went to at the reservation despite everybody booing him and throwing stuff at him. If it weren’t for tolerance he would have given up on not trying to swim, but rather sink because he thinks that Reardan is to tall for him to climb.  

            Worth and perseverance the two words I would use to describe Junior or this book in general. I use the word worth because he is looking for what he is “worth” in this community of the Spokane community. He finally finds his worth at the end of his freshman year in high school attending Reardan, but that was through perseverance. He endures all the hardship that was thrown his way no matter what happened he went through it and confronted all of his problems. Compared to the old generation Indians, he grew up and persevered because he wanted a life outside of being drunk, poor, and “ugly” in the American society.

Citation

1. Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2009. Print.