The Rez

The Reservation or Rez is the home of characters like Arnold or Victor. As American Indians, living on the Rez is a way of life, but is a way of life that bring lots of bad things with it. Poverty is one example. In the Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Arnold is always hungry. He will go long periods of time without food due to the lack of money his parents have. Most reservation Indians are also faced with the same horrors because there are not enough jobs. Alcohol also poses a significant problem. Arnold and Victor were both faced with abusive fathers. Arnold was lucky enough never to be hit by his father but his best friend Rowdy was usually beaten. In Smoke Signals, Victor at a young age is usually hit by his drunken father because of small things that anger him. It is a significant problem in the society. In Part-Time Indian, Arnold is shown that he must leave because he has more hope than the people at the Rez. The Rez is full of drunks and angry people. Arnold escapes the chains of the Rez that has a disease that is passed down by generation of the same terrible flaws. The Rez poses a threat to anyone trying to flee and become something other than another indian on the Rez. If you leave the Rez you become an outcast to the society you once knew. Once you leave you can never come back. That is one terrible fact Arnold comes to realize as his best friend abandons him. The Rez is home but it also is a chain that holds back the inhabitants from leaving, exploring, and expanding.

Bigger

I did not like Bigger at all. I thought his decisions he made most of the time were stupid. He shouldn't have killed Mary at all. He could have left her there and when Mrs. Dalton walked in all he had to do was run out of the room or explain what had happened. Also he should have just cleaned the furnace when no one was in the room and he would have gotten away with the crime. Also, Bigger is a little bit of a creep and a rapist. He raped Mary Dalton and Bessie. He also admitted he liked doing it. I am ok with what happened to Bigger. He deserved to get caught.

A Principle to Keep

I think in the world I live in that people should all have sets of principles to live no matter how big or how small. One principle I think is a good one to keep is to surround yourself with people who have good intentions in mind. You should associate yourself with people who you like to be around and like to be around you. This person or these people are ones you can trust and like to hang out with. People who are funny and genuinely care about you as a person. This is for modern day and if there were to be an apocalypse of any kind you need people you can trust and will look out for you and trust that you will look out for them. You should always have friends because they make everything better and life more enjoyable and a principle for every day life is to have friends.