The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-time Indian from a racial and socioeconomic lens.
Analysis on Sherman Alexie’s : The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-time Indian
The glaring financial disparity between White Americans and its marginalized counterparts had been raging under the spotlight for decades. Despite the fact that this subject is still an ongoing debate, it is indisputable that the global economy had been dominated by Whiteness for a considerably long period of time. Subsequently, this wealth gap led to a further disparity in social classification, leaving a contrasting social outlook of those living prosperously and those who do not. Sherman Alexie, through his impeccable storytelling, managed to exhibit these relevant issues in one of his works: The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian. In this analysis, I would like to invite you to closely examine the wealth gap and social classifications between White and Native Americans (Indian) that had been demonstrated throughout the storyline and characters’ dialogues of the aforementioned novel and bridge the group with the real-life problems of uneven wealth possession between the two races. I saw this as an intriguing aspect to dissect as it brings exposure to the problem that is deep-rooted within our racial-based economical systems.
This novel itself was based on the true story of the author’s fascinating past life in the Indian reservation and his venture towards breaking the limitations that come with it. Though there are multiple interesting points that can be pondered upon, the frequent elaboration on the social class and wealth gaps between the characters is one to top the list.
Since the very beginning of the novel, Arnold, the main character, was relentlessly serving the readers with explicit descriptions emphasising on the poverty which Indians were facing in the reservation. This can be seen from the chapter of Why Chicken Means So Much to Me:
“And it’s not like my mother and father were born into wealth. It’s not like they gambled away their family fortunes. My parents came from poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people”
In this paragraph, Arnold was explaining the generational nature of the Indians’ financial crisis from his family’s point of view. The absence of effective and solutive actions provided towards this particular issue had created a never ending cycle of poverty within the reservation Indians.
“But 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.”
Similar to the previous one, in this paragraph, Arnold was stressing the fact that Indians had been associated with poverty for so long that it started to manifest into an inherent label. In addition, this financial problem plays a factor that prevents them from pursuing a higher standard of livelihood. This cited evidence from the novel is supported by the numbers and facts in real life. American Indians Census Facts (2018) stated that the overall percentage of American Indians living below the federal poverty line is 28.2%. The underlying issue that mobilizes this particular financial problem to sustain itself is the scarcity of job and economic opportunities. In 2005, BIA American Indian Population & Labor Force Reportannounced that eight out of ten adults on reservations are unemployed, while many of those who are working are earning below poverty wages. As a result, many of the Indians in the reservation that wish to pursue higher incomes are hindered by the limited access to job opportunities. These problems sustain a cycle of generational poverty that is prevailing in reservations, which was vindicated through Arnold’s description of Indians’ financial condition in the reservations. Furthermore, this validates the overall existence of poverty faced by general Native Americans as described in the novel.
While the previous discussion was capturing the lack of wealth distribution in Indians, there are several other pieces of evidence from the novel that substantiated the superiority of white in issues alike. When Arnold was entering Reardan for the first time, he was exposed to the salient materialistic disparity between him and the residents in Reardan, which was described as predominantly white. This event can be found in the Chapter of How to Fight Monsters, where he inserted a cartoon graphic, showing his substandard attire in contrast to the white students’ proper clothing.
Furthermore, due to this lopsided wealth possession, there is an ensuing contradistinction in the facilities provided and afforded by white families compared to the ones by Indians, which is depicted in Because Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere Near France:
“My school and my 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”
and Go Means Go:
“But Reardan has one of the best small schools in the state, with a computer room and huge chemistry lab and a drama club and two basketball gyms.”
These paragraphs are narrating the uneven apportioning of facilities in the educational platforms between Indians and white, which is a direct result of the infamous wealth gap itself. According to the novel, Indians that are living in the reservations were given poor quality education. The students must use a hand-me-down book with outdated curriculums due to insufficient resources given and the inability to afford more than what was handed. On the contrary, the majority of the white families, having adequate monetary possession, were granted access to better education, as shown through the comparison of Reardan, a primarily white school that provides extensive facilities, with the underfunded school in the Wellpinit reservation. The piteous part is the issue painted through the cited quotes above is a reflection of an actual, dismal real-life problem.
OPB stated that Chemawa Indian School, one of the off-reservation educational boarding schools for Native Americans, are facing shortcomings in academics, oversight, and financial management (Rob Manning, 2020). Though the lack of care in the Indian reservation’s educational platform, or its general environment, is not as conspicuous as it used to be, it remains irrefutable that there is still an alarmingly disproportionate wealth polarity between white and Indians. A 2016 America’s Community Survey found that the median worth of a white family reached $171,000, which is four times higher than Indians, at $39,719. This wealth gap led to multiple other significant chasms, including the educational attainment between the two aforementioned ethnicities. The families that possess a stable household income have higher chances of affording a better quality in the educational platform as they cost more, while those who are struggling to meet daily needs will have to settle for government-subsidized schools with ordinary to low resources, as depicted in Arnold’s comparison of Indian’s school and Reardan.
The wealth disparity between two races is not only impacting the financial condition of one family but also their social class. The material conditions that one possesses during their lives are a fundamental contribution to their socioeconomic status and social identity. This social identity led to further stratification in the eyes of society and is oftentimes (if not always) determined based on someone’s accumulated wealth, occupation, and educational level (Conley, 2020). The higher the prestige one obtains in the aforementioned factors, the higher the class they are placed in. In this case, the wealth gap between Indians and whites resulted in a significant social class disparity which was showcased through Arnold’s struggle as a Native American in comparison to his white peers. This was exhibited in chapter Dance, dance, dance:
“And since the kids and parents at Reardan thought I had a lot of money, I did nothing to change their minds. I figured it wouldn’t do me any good if they knew I was dirt poor. What would they think of me if they knew I sometimes had to hitchhike to school? Yeah, so I pretended to have a little money. I pretended to be middle class. I pretended I belonged.”
and Go Means Go:
“Reardan is the rich, white farm town that sits in the wheat fields exactly twenty-two miles away from the rez”
In these cited quotes, Arnold was displaying the interconnection between materialistic possession with social class. He described his attempt in disguising himself as a middle class, by pretending he owns a sufficient amount of money, so he can exist in a predominantly white society in which low class individuals are not welcome. This creates an apparent line between the generally low income Indians with the white families that are placed higher in the social class , to the point where one should profess a non-existent wealth possession to elevate their social class. This comparative outlook in social class between white and Indians can be seen through his description of Reardan as a ‘rich, white farm’. The word ‘white’ was associated with the term ‘rich’ which displayed an innate relation between white and high social class, which differs with the Native Americans that were closely associated with poverty and lower class individuals.
These social class imbalances between white and Native Americans are one among many distressing phenomenon that are still perpetuated in the present. Reeves and Joo (2017) conducted a research which unveiled the upper and middle class of America to be largely white, scaling at 72%. On the other side of the road, Native Americans were not even eligible to be detected due to the lack of members in the ethnic group that were admissible to be put as an upper-middle class, failing to form 1% of the entire research subject. This discovery is a conclusive evidence of unequal social placement between whites and Native Americans, as presented in the novel.
Ultimately, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, through a socioeconomic telescope, is an overdue attestation of the systematic post-colonialism impact of white superiority and the toll it takes on the minority, in this specific case, Native Americans.
These problems are still very well prevalent in the real-life world and that calls for a change in deepening our knowledge about the issue or taking a stand in striving for equality. Nevertheless, Sherman Alexie deserves a standing acclamation for consolidating the racial-based social and financial problems in the present, narrated through the unique and entertaining glasses of Arnold and his oddly inspirational journey.
References
Manning, R. (2020. July 27). Oregon boarding school for Native American students to shift online. OPB. Retrieved from https://www.opb.org/news/article/coronavirus-delay-chemawa-indian-school-opening/
Miller, M. (2011). Land and racial wealth inequality. The American Economic Review, 101(3), 371–376. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/29783772
Amadeo, K. (2020, November 25). Racial wealth gap in the United States. the balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/racial-wealth-gap-in-united-states-4169678
(2019, March 11) Fiscal facts. Tax policy center. Retrieved from https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/fiscal-fact/median-value-wealth-race-ff03112019
Mendoza, T. (2020, November 21). How Does Socioeconomic Inequality Affect Social Class, Especially for People of Color?. BU Today. Retrieved from https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/how-does-socioeconomic-inequality-affect-social-class-for-people-of-color/
Reeves, R. V., Joo, N. (2017, October 4) White, still: The American upper middle class. Social mobility memos. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2017/10/04/white-still-the-american-upper-middle-class/
