Mushfiq Islam
English 102
3/7/14
Risks
Leads to Success
Do you feel like you have a really difficult life and you
just can’t seem to find any success or happiness in your life? Well if you feel
like that don’t be discouraged and don’t give up on your life because you’re
not the only one feeling like that. Many people in this world are faced with
obstacles and challenges in their lives that are very hard to overcome. Some people
are able to overcome those challenges but unfortunately others are not and end
up giving up on their lives. When you’re an adult it is easier to overcome
challenges since you’ve lived an longer life and you have a better understanding
of how things work; but if you’re an child that has to deal with a lot of
obstacles it tends to be much harder. One question many people have is that;
when a child is faced with many obstacles and challenges in their lives and
have no one to help them guide them in the right direction, how does that child
find success in his or her life? In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman
Alexie; a fourteen year old Native American Indian boy named Arnold Spirit also
known as Junior pretty much answers that question. Even though Arnold Spirit
knew he was setup for failure, he was willing to take risks that led him to
overcome his fears; eventually leading him to the right path and finding
success in his life.
Junior
grew up in a household just like most of the kids in the rez grew up in, a born
to setup for failure type of household. Just like most of these other Indian
families, Junior and his family had to struggle to; most of the times they didn’t,
have food in the house, didn’t have enough money to pay the bills or pay for
gas, and didn’t have a lot of everyday things to buy either. For example for
Christmas Junior said that, “we didn’t have enough for presents, so Dad did
what he always does when we don’t have enough money. He took what little money we
did have and ran away to get drunk” (Alexie 150). This shows that even on
Christmas, Junior and his family weren’t able to spend it in a good way because
they didn’t have enough money. With the money they did have Junior’s dad
decides to get drunk with it and that is not something a kid wants to see his
dad do on Christmas. Junior knew that if he stays at the rez he would also
become like his father and would have to struggle in the future with his life
and family. His biggest fear was to tell his dad that everything was not ok, “Hey,
Dad, I said. Hey kid, he said. I’m sorry about Christmas. It’s okay, I said.
But it wasn’t okay. It was about as far from okay as you can get” (Alexie 151).
It goes to show that Junior was probably going to be headed in the same
direction as his dad. Even though he was setup for failure he knew that his
life can’t be like that and he had to follow his grandmother’s footsteps.
Then
came a day when Junior had a very influential talk with one of his teachers, it
was Mr. P his geometry teacher who came to talk with him at his house and that
talk changed his whole life. Mr. P told Junior how, “Mary was a bright and
shining star. And then she faded away year by year until you could barely see
her anymore” (Alexie 40). The reason Mary his sister faded away was because she
decided to stay at the rez and there was no opportunity’s for her to purse her
dreams at the rez. That’s when Mr. P told Junior that he needs to leave the rez
in order for him to achieve his dreams and goals because if Junior stays at the
rez his dreams would have also been crushed like Mary his sister. There is a
cartoon that Junior draws that shows how the rez is on one side and the hope is
on the other side of the rez (Alexie 43). Finally Junior realized that even
though he loved the rez ho couldn’t afford to stay at the rez and he needed to
go somewhere where he can accomplish his goals.
One
of the good qualities Junior has in him that leads him to have success is that
he was able to overcome his fears. There was a point where Junior and Rowdy came
across one of the biggest trees in the rez and Rowdy wants him and Junior to
climb it. At first they both were scared to climb it but they still did it, “Rowdy
and I climbed and climbed and climbed. We made it to the top” (Alexie 226).
This shows that Junior was willing to take risks to overcome his fears. He also
knew that in order to overcome his big fears he had to take big risks and
another big risk he took was going to school at Reardan. He knew that Reardan
was a school for white rich kids with no Indians but he still decided to go
there, so he can get out of the rez and be successful. He was of the very few
Indians if not the only one who decided to see the world in a different perspective
and not just in one way. He knew there would be a lot of people at the rez
angry with him for leaving the rez like his moms said, “You’ll be the first one
t ever leave the rez this way. The Indians around here are going to be angry with
you” (Alexie 47). Junior knew that his
mom was right but at that point he didn’t care what others thought. He trusted
himself and knew that he could do something with his life if he was given the opportunity
even if that meant leaving the rez. Not only did he overcome his fears but he
looked at things in different perspectives that let him to leave the rez to
pursue his dreams.
Throughout
this whole process for Junior one value that he gained he didn’t have before
was that he had trust in himself that led to his success in life. In the end it really shows that he had trust
in him when Rowdy challenges him to a basketball game, “You want to go
one-on-one. You’ve never beaten me one-on-one. You pussy. Yeah that’s going to
change” (228). This just shows that even though Rowdy used to always beat him
in one-on-one challenges he was still confident that he would be able to beat
him this time. One of the reasons is because his move to Reardan changed the
way he looks at things now and he trusts himself a lot more than what he used
to. If Junior was still going to school
in the rez his confidence level still would be a lot down then it is now. This
scene shows that not only has Junior impacted himself but he has also impacted
his best friend Rowdy. Before Rowdy used to be a kid who wouldn’t open his mind
to things at all but now he actually reads books and decides to learn more
about things as well. So even though a lot of people didn’t agree with Junior’s
decision at first it gave others more hope now that, no matter whom you are or
where you live any can overcome their obstacles if they believe in themselves
and have trust in them.
The
most important part of this novel is that if a kid like Junior who faces so
many challenges and obstacles in his life is able to overcome those challenges
and be successful, anyone can do it no matter who you are. Even though at one
point of life there was no hope for Junior, he still decided to pursue his
dreams and goals and pushed all his problems to the side and aimed for what he
knew he had to do to become successful. The main thing is that Junior opened
the door for a lot of other Indian kids his age or younger to still pursue
their goals even if you are an Indian and to never give up on your life.
Towards the end as you can see Junior is headed for big time success and he
will be happy because he knows he made the right decision even with all the
odds against him. Just remember never shy away from any challenges and you will
have a successful life.
