An In-Over-My-Head Analysis on “ The

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time

Indian” and Why It Should Stay in the
Curriculum

By: Don Nguyen

 “I draw because words are too unpredictable.
I draw because words are too limited.
If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other
language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your
meaning.
But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it.
If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the
world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.”

― Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

 Humor, a Universal Language
• It is something that resonates with people of all walks of life, no matter their
age, race, or gender
• This is also the only book I’ve ever read in any class ahead of the assigned
due date for fun because I genuinely enjoyed it.
• The power of simplicity, humor, and slang to achieve common ground
 A Comparison
• “Do you think I am an automaton? —
a machine without feelings? and can
bear to have my morsel of bread
snatched from my lips, and my drop
of living water dashed from my cup?
Do you think, because I am poor,
obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless
and heartless? You think wrong! — I
have as much soul as you — and full as
much heart!...”
• “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to
feel that you somehow deserve to be
poor. You start believing that you're
poor because you're stupid and ugly.
And then you start believing that
you're stupid and ugly because you're
Indian. And because you're Indian you
start believing you're destined to be
poor. It's an ugly circle and there's
nothing you can do about it”
Why do we laugh and why is it important?
• A theory on this is that we are constantly looking for patterns in order to
understand the world
• In essence, comedy could be about learning
• But just because we learn something doesn’t make it funny
• % Percent, per hundred
• ‰ Permill, per thousand
• ‱ Permyriad, per ten thousand
 Why do we laugh and why is it important?
(cont..)
• But another theory also suggests that laughter is used to inhibit the fight-or-
flight response because humor relieves stress
• That means that a joke could also be funny when the setup creates a
psychological crisis of interpretation, and the punchline reveals there is no
threat.
• It’s important because the protagonist uses humor to cope with a lot of dark
complex situations…
 So what does this mean and why does it
matter?
• With clever use of funny language, the author can explore complicated dark
topics while maintaining accessibility and because comedy is rooted in
learning, it makes the lessons taken away more memorable
• This means that the author understands that humor is a bridge that reaches
across barriers created by acadamia that inhibits the accessibility of learning
and understanding of the novel’s ideals…
• But who knows…
 Why it deserves another round
• It’s relatable… Death, Mental Illness, Addiction, But also love, hope and dreams.
• Humor isn’t used to undermine the seriousness of situations but rather to highlight the
feelings of the character and how his mentality shapes his perception of the world around
him keeping the story’s relatability and simple language, while also increasing the story’s
depth
• Dark humor in the novel gives the messages common ground and become more accessible
and enjoyable to students taking this first year course who might not be used to older
English writing
• It’s literary techniques create lasting impressions allowing for more complex ideas and
insights to be conveyed in simple ways