Essay

Edith Espinosa

4/15/14

English 102

Breaking Walls

People tend to settle with what they have, whether they are happy or not, without exploring their opportunities. They build walls over time and refuse to climb over them to see what beauty holds for them on the other side. In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian there is a boy named Arnold Spirit, known as Junior, who was a wall breaker, or more like a tree climber. No matter what obstacles he had to face throughout his life, from having water in his brain to experiencing the death of the people dearest to him, he managed to see the bright side in everything and move forward. Junior is a young indigenous boy living in a Spokane Indian Reservation, where many don’t make it out. Growing up Junior knew the reservation didn’t have much to offer and in fear of ending up either dead or an alcoholic, Junior had to make it out. Junior decided to do something no one has done before and simply leave the reservation in hopes of finding a better future. By climbing to the very top of the tallest tree and breaking the wall that divided the reservation and his opportunities, Junior realized that if you want something you’ve never had, then you have to do something you’ve never done.

A daily struggle for Junior was bullying. His abnormalities such as his big head, skinny body, and big feet made him the main target and punching bag of every teenage boy in the reservation, even certain adults. Junior stated, “Everybody on the Rez calls me a retard about twice a day. They call me a retard when they are pantsing me or stuffing my head in the toilet or just smacking me upside the head.” (4) This was nothing new to Junior, but he would find things to distract himself from the torture he would receive in his community. Drawing was one of Junior’s escapes from reality, “I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation.”(6) Quite and alone in his room Junior would draw cartoons of anything he could think about to keep himself happy and away from danger outside his home. He believed this was one of his talents that would someday make him rich and famous, “I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tinny little lifeboats.” (6) Junior’s drawings represented the hidden motivation he had to leave the reservation and become someone other than a target to everyone. He understood from the beginning that leaving the reservation would be something extremely difficult to accomplish but with the motivation Junior had he knew he could make the impossible possible if he wanted.

Junior had a reality check after he threw a textbook at his teacher, Mr.P. He realized the reservation was, and always will be, too poor to give him the right opportunities and resources he needed to be successful, “My school and tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world.” (31) At this point Junior was so overwhelmed and disappointed in the education he has been receiving that out of anger he ended up throwing the very same old textbook at Mr.P. Of course Junior had to leave on suspension and you would assume Mr. P hated the poor kid, right? Instead Mr.P came to Junior’s house and tried to convince Junior to leave the reservation because it had nothing to offer to Junior, “You’ve been fighting since you were born. You fought off that brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts. You kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope.” (43) After the motivational conversation with Mr. P, Junior realized the only place where hope was available was Reardan High School. Knowing how his community would feel about this made Junior terrified to ever leave but he knew what had to be done had to be done and there was a point in his life where he had to become selfish and go after what he wanted without thinking about the consequences involving the negative people in his life. Moving to Reardan High School changed Junior in a way greater than you could imagine. Overtime Junior found happiness, safety, opportunities, and love from a whole community at Reardan. Yet he still had other obstacles at the reservation he has to overcome.  

After the death of his grandmother, sister, and a close family friend, Junior tried his best to bring out the good memories from them and learn from each and every one of them. When Junior’s grandmother died he realized nothing is forever and you must forgive to move on, “My grandmother’s last action on earth was a call for forgiveness, love, and tolerance.” (157) The motivation his grandmother would give him was the strength he needed to overcome the pain he had over losing his loved ones. He understood that no matter what happened in life there will always be difficult things you had to deal with but if you had the right mentality and support from loved ones a lot of things would be easier to accomplish. From his sister he learned that chances should always be taken regardless of the outcomes, “It was courageous of her to leave the basement and move to Montana. She went searching for her dreams, and she didn’t find them, but she made the attempt. And I was making the attempt, too. And maybe it would kill me, too, but I knew staying on the rez would have killed me, too” (217) Junior will always admire his sisters bravery for moving out of the house and finding a way to make her dreams possible, even when an unfortunate event happened, Junior held on to the simple thought that she at least tried to make her dream possible.

By climbing to the tallest tree Junior was able to realize how beautiful it was to be at the very top and see things from a different perspective. He could see how beautiful the community he was growing up in really was, but understood that there were amazing opportunities waiting for him on the other side. Junior was ambitious, driven, smart, and dedicated and knew that nothing would stop him when it came to achieving him dreams, not even the tallest tree.