“They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going away gift from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn’t believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?
So what was I doing in racist Reardan, where more than half of every graduating class went to college? Nobody in my family had ever gone near a college” (“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by: Sherman Alexi, p. 56).
Quacy Webley Response:
This quote does a great job captivating the reader’s attention through raw emotions and fears. I have never read this book, but by simply reading this quote I could get an idea that it has to do with an Indian boy attending a new school where he feels he doesn’t belong. It appears he may have also given in to the stereotype of his own people when he mentions how everyone else attends college, which is unlike his people. I think this book is a book any young adult could relate to, because at one time or another we have felt a sense of not belonging and it was all usually in our heads, or like this in this case giving in to the stereotype.
My Response to Quacy:
I agree completely with your response. I haven’t read the book either but I have an idea what it’s about from what I read up on. The quote here really does speak to young adults because, like you mentioned, we have all experienced the feeling of not belonging at some point in our lives. This is a feeling especially felt as a teenager, because teenagers tend to give in to stereotypes and society’s influence more quickly than an adult with a fully developed identity and mentality. The saddest part is when young children buy in to the negative stereotype of their kind. I definitely felt sympathy towards the Indian boy in this novel because he is a victim of society and his emotions are so genuine.
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