The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a semi-autobiography novel about the life path of a young Indian named Junior. Since the book came out, it received numerous challenges regarding whether it is appropriate for school children. This essay argues that the book should not be banned from the school curriculum because it contains new perspectives, promotes love, and offers important inspirations of life for the young readers.

The first reason why The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian should not be banned from the school curriculum is that it offers school children new perspectives of the world. One important perspective is an insight of the poor. Poverty was the main reason why so many tragedies happened within the Spokane Indian reservation. However, many children nowadays have never even experienced poverty. This leaves them with limited ideas about what it is like being poor. While revealing the tragedy of poverty, the author has also tuned down the heaviness of the topic with a good sense of humor. For example: “Poverty = empty refrigerator + empty stomach” (Alexie 7).

This humorous and creative style makes school children learn more about being poor and establish more sympathy with the poor. Another important perspective offered in the book is the Indian identity. As a minority voice in American, Junior’s story gives an authentic account of the life experiences of Indians living in the reservations. Basically, this book turns the abstract concept of a reservation into real scenes, which allow school children to establish a comprehensive understanding of the living circumstances of some Indian populations in the country.

Also, while pointing out the socially and institutionally disadvantaged status of Indians, the author remains objective instead of accusing other races. Junior has even been able to discover the bright side in white people: “If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing” (Alexie 108). This essentially teaches the children that people of different races are not that different once they get to know each other better, which is a very important lesson.

The second reason why the book should not be banned is that it promotes the value of love and children can learn a great deal from it. The most important type is between Junior’s family members. Being poor and alcoholic, Juniors parents never beat him for once. Although this may sound like nothing for the ordinary reader, when it is placed in the reservation context where parent drinking and child abuse were serious problems, the readers begin to appreciate the profound love that Junior’s parents have for him. One example is: “He could have spent that five bucks and stayed drunk for another day or two. But he saved it for me” (Alexie 125).

Even though Junior’s parents were far from perfect, the readers are able to sense their love and pride for his son, which is the main reason why Junior was able to “escape” the reservation and be successful in the new school. Another type of love is the friendship between Junior and Rowdy, which is about two lonely souls finding shelter with each other. At the end of the book, friendship gave Junior the strength to forgive: “For a second, I thought about saying no. I thought about telling him to bite my ass. I thought about making him apologize. But I couldn’t. He was never going to change” (Alexie 190). The stories about friendship and forgiveness are going to benefit readers’ lives immensely.

Finally, there is also the type of love that is subtly expressed throughout the book, which is the empathy and love between the white people and Junior. The purest form of concern after getting to know each other elevates the theme of the book beyond race, and reveals the positive side of human nature. All different types of love make the book rich in emotions and banning the book would mean a negation of all the positive emotions.

The third reason why the book should not be banned is that it serves as a source of inspiration for any children who are considered the underdogs in their lives. The story of Junior begins with little hope: “we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are” (Alexie 11). Although life seemed to prevent Junior from any possibility to escape the reservation, he did not give up. Instead, he told his parents: “No, if I don’t go now, I never will. I have to do it now” (Alexie 39). This helps the readers realize that if they want to become anything in their lives, acting right now is the best way. School children nowadays are in desperate need of such a lesson because they are often so overwhelmed with opportunities and life choices that they do not know about the importance of commitment.

Moreover, the book is also inspirational for school children because it introduces the profound subject of pain for them. Having attended forty-two funerals, Junior came up with the conclusion that “We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away. In the middle of a crazy and drunk life, you have to hang on to the good and sober moments tightly” (Alexie 178). Dealing with pain by clinging onto the bright side of life is one of the most important things that the book can teach its readers. And children should not be excluded from such a lesson because the earlier they learn about pain, the better they are prepared to cope with it. The inspirations of action and positivity simply make the book too valuable to be banned.

Some may feel uncomfortable about the content of the book and argue that it should be banned for profanity, sexual references, or bullying. However, these features are part of what makes the book authentic. For example: the statement “I am really just a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation” (Alexie 7) may be more in line with the speaking habits of the Spokane reservation kids. Using “poor-ass” instead of just “poor” creates a much better context for the story. Reading about it does not mean that the young readers would necessarily pick up the language in it because what matters the most for this book is the story, not the language.

While words such as “retard”, “bastard”, “assholes”, “shit”, and “fag” raise concerns, the author has made it quite clear that these words and the bullying behaviors were not encouraged. It is highly unlikely for the young readers to empathize with the protagonist while picking up the words and behaviors that were mainly used to insult the protagonist. Also, having sexual or profanity references in the book does not mean that the readers would adopt the same behaviors as Junior.

As mentioned above, this book merely provides a different perspective for the readers so that they can appreciate different ways of thinking. The main themes of the book are about race, family love, friendship, and rising up to the challenges and pain in life. Religion, teenage masturbation, or verbal/physical bullying are not even close the central theme. They positive influences clearly outweigh the negative ones.

In conclusion, the book offers a balanced racial perspective without negative accusations, allowing young readers of all races to understand abstract concepts of poverty, reservation, and racial equality. It is also a promotion of love and positivity in life, which are valuable lessons for readers of any age. Despite concerns over bad language and profanity, they are merely a small portion of the book that adds to authenticity. Based on the main themes and values of the book, young readers are sensible enough not to pick up or imitate the negativity because the positive values simply outshine the negative points.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. Recorded Books, 2008.