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Onyeomachi Okoro English 114 Prof. Collin L-Mattson 21 October 2013

Critical Essay Culture and Identity are concepts that go hand-in-hand when examining the work of Sherman Alexie and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The inner struggle that Arnold Spirit, the main character of the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian goes with coming to terms with his identity and is best related to the article A Culture of Poverty by Ta- Nehisi Coates. Both Alexie and Coates demonstrate through experiences the vast difference between the mannerisms they obtained growing up verses the mannerisms they must adopt in their predominantly white environment. In the novel, Alexie demonstrates how having ones back is an important factor in the relationship between Arnold and his best friend Rowdy. Early on in the story Arnold went on a detailed rant about what he considered to be all his flaws. Not only was he physically unappealing to the eye but, he also suffered from a condition at birth that left him partially brain damaged. Despite being brain damaged, Arnold was a very intelligent young man which also feeds in to the unpopular stereotype since he was considered somewhat of a nerd. He spent most of his time locked up in his room drawing cartoons and writing in his diary. Drawing was Arnolds personal way of expressing his thoughts and emotions; No one really knew the real Arnold. The one person that was always there for Arnold was his friend Rowdy. Arnold Spirit states, And

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he knew that hed probably have to fight for me. Rowdy has protected me since the day we were born.(Alexie, ch.3) Their friendship was built upon the loyalty that Rowdy has for Arnold and vice versa. Rowdy would always fight back those who taunted or teased Arnold and in that sense it was like Rowdy was Arnolds Protector. Alexie discusses how throughout the novel how Arnold was living two completely different lives. Although he did not want to end up being trapped in cycle of the reservation that was inevitable, he did not want people to think that he was disregarding the reservation or the people in it. He loved his family and his culture, but also secretly hated it at the same time. Everyone on the reservation was poor and used alcohol as a way to drown out all of their problems of poverty and hopelessness. The saddest part about their situation is that due to their excessive drinking came many alcohol related deaths from suicide to drunk driving accidents. Despite all of that the Rez as Arnold calls it, is what he has grown up to know without it he wouldnt be the person he is without it. Arnold describes, I felt like two different people inside of one body.(Alexie, Ch. 8) Part of Arnold want to get away from the reservation, he knew that he never really belonged to the reservation to begin with. Another part of Arnold fears losing apart of who he is which the reservation is. This conflict that Arnold goes through in the story is part of why he refers to himself as being in his own tribe. Sherman Alexie made another point in the novel on the different take that Indians had on violence compared to white people. As Arnold began attending Rearden High school, it was then when he realized how different he really was. Besides being the only Indian in the whole school, he also experienced the biggest culture shock of his life. His first day there, he introduced himself as his nickname, Junior, only to find out that the

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name Junior, which was very common on the Rez was unheard of at Rearden. Also when taunted by a group of what seemed to be the most popular guys in school Arnold scared them off by punching one of them in the nose. Arnold declares, And I knew I had to do something big. I couldnt let the, get away with that shit (Alexie, Ch.8). What made Arnold confused was their reaction, instead of fighting back they looked at him as if he were some animal. All Arnold was doing was fighting back like he was taught to do according to the fighting rules on the reservation. These rules were plain and simple- if someone disrespects you, your family, your friends, or pretty much anything that has to do with you, you must fight them. Judging from the jocks scared reaction, it is apparent that fighting was something very uncommon at Rearden. Being that they are an allwhite and higher class school, they are probably taught to fear violence while those on the reservation make it apart of their lifestyle. From the beginning of the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, it was clear that Arnold was different. His physical difference is only part of the reason Arnold himself knew he didnt fit in with anyone on the Reservation. Even Rowdy, the only friend Arnold had, was the complete opposite of him. Arnold knew that finding a way off of the reservation was his only way of accomplishing what he wanted out of his life. Once he attended Rearden high school Arnold quickly realized that he was an even bigger outsider than he was going to school on the reservation. It took Arnold a series of both saddening and heroic events for people to begin to even accept him for who he was in both Rearden and the reservation. I believe that Alexie was trying to demonstrate through Arnolds situation that being like everyone else isnt enough. It

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pays off to be different and to strive to want different for yourself than what is expected of you. Both Arnold and Coates are similar in many ways being they both come from cultures that are considerably more intimate than the predominately white environment in which they are surrounded by. For example, the reservation is like a big extended family, literally. Everyone is somehow connected which is why not one person on the Rez is a stranger to another. Not only do they stick together but they pay high respects to their elders and ancestors which is why most boys of the family are named after their fathers and given the nickname Junior. Where Coates comes from people were mostly of the African American decent, so that in itself creates a tight an intimate community. In most neighborhoods with mainly African American residents people are taught to come together which is why the reservation and the streets of Baltimore go hand in hand. Like Arnold Spirit, Coates came from a culture where being challenged is not taken lightly. For example in the novel, The Absolute true Diary, Arnold found himself being taunted by a group of jocks in his new school. Roger, the main jock made a racist comment about Indians that caused Arnold to react violently by punching him in the face. In the text A Culture of Poverty, Coates went through a similar situation with another reporter while minding his own business at a social gathering. The reporters constant taunting and failure to back off provoked Coates to consider punching the reporter in the face. Coates asserts, For surely, I had adhered to Article 2 of the Code of the Streets--"Thou Shalt Not Be Found a Punk."(Coates). It can be said that both Indians living on the Rez and African Americans from the streets of Baltimore both have

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that same desire to be respected. Coates was only doing what he thought would evoke the respect he felt he deserved. In the article, Coates explains how he used violence or the invitation of violence in order to hide from who he really was. As a young man Coates never had any desire to fight but, found it essential in order to prove himself to others around him. In a sense, it wasnt fighting that proved that you were loyal but your willingness to do so. In a strange way, the false willingness to fight is apparently what protected him from the streets. Coates states, In the main, it's been easy for me to discard the armor of West Baltimore, because I wore it so poorly. I was never, as they say, truly built for the streets.(Coates). Coates admits that because his tough act was not who he really was meant to be making it easy for him to transition into his new life. In Ta Nehisis article, he discusses how growing up in West Baltimore may have taught him how to protect himself when it come to the streets but did nothing to protect him from what he now faces in the real world. The fourteen year old Coates was able to get by using violence to solve his problems because that was the acceptable then. Now that Coates is in his thirties, he realizes that reverting to violence only creates more and more problems to deal with. He argues that there is a certain armor or persona one takes on to fit their environment and you can either choose to wear it well or to discard it. With that, comes the fear that in choosing to take on this persona will the one that was instilled in you be lost in trying to attain the unattainable. By trying to be something we are not are we foolishly striving for a goal that will never be achieved? In Coates case discarding a part of yourself is easy when it wasnt a part of you to begin with.

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Upon comparing the two texts of Alexie and Coates, It is apparent that both Arnold and Coates felt that they had something to prove to both themselves and to the others around them. Coates felt that he had to gain respect by threatening a reporter and Arnold felt as if he had to appear to be a tough motorcycle -riding Indian all to gain respect and Identity. Because they were never truly comfortable being themselves to begin with, they felt the need to put of this faade of being a warrior when in reality they were

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Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2007. Print.

Coates, Ta- Nahesi. A Culture of Poverty. The Atlantic. Oct 20, 2010. Web Sept. 23 2013.