Christina Hunter
English 102
February 14th, 2013
Turning on the Light
How does one swim
and not sink, when they have to overcome hard times? Having a positive mindset
is not something everyone can accomplish. Even if you’re going through the
hardest of times, is there something positive that you can do to make it a little
less of a burden? There’s always something. Even if there’s nothing you can do
about a situation to change the circumstances, you can certainly strive to keep a positive attitude, and continue
to have a little bit of hope, and a positive outlook on like. The character Albus Dumbledore, from the
movie, Harry Potter, and the Prisoner of
Azkaban, said, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if
one only remembers to turn on the light.” What he says is true, but we
ourselves have to remember to turn on that light, otherwise we cannot find
happiness, and hope. In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian, Sherman Alexie shows how hard it can be to have hope, when the protagonist,
Arnold Spirit is faced with more than just small complications when trying to
find that better life for himself, while living on a Native American
Reservation. Even since birth, Arnold is
already fighting complications, but by having hope, and keeping a positive outlook
on life, and his future, he is able to turn on his own light, and find his own
happiness.
Junior’s search for hope begins with a surprising beginning.
After throwing his math book at his math teacher, due to surging emotions about
being stuck on the reservation with a poor education, his math teacher, Mr. P.
actually takes the time to visit him, and talk to him more about his future. He
confides in Arnold, when he tells him, “You have to leave this reservation. (42).”
and, “All the kids here have given up, all your friends,. All the bullies. All
their mothers and fathers have given up, too. And their grandparents gave up,
and their grandparents before them. And me and every other teacher here. (42).”
“But not you, you can’t give up. You won’t give up. You threw that book in my
face because somewhere inside you refuse to give up. (43).” Then Mr. P. tells
Arnold the most important thing that starts his journey, “You fought off that
brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and
drug addicts. You kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope and go
somewhere where other people have hope. (43).” “You’re going to find more and
more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.
(43).” Mr. P knows that Arnold has that quality of someone who keeps fighting
the good fight, and doesn’t give up. He knows that there is still a chance for
Arnold to have a better life, and get what he wants.
It is
then that Arnold decides he has to make a choice. He then decides to transfer to
Reardan High School. An all-white school off the reservation, where there’s
hope. Going to Reardan is a very scary experience for Arnold, at first. It’s
not easy for him being the only Native American kid, in a sea of white faces. But he is able to be brave, and mussel through
it. He even makes friends with the High School Jock, a popular girl named
Penelope, and a really smart student named Gordy. Arnold creates his own hope
at Reardan, when he approaches Gordy for the first time, and says, “I want us
to be friends. I meant regular friends. I mean, you and I, we have a lot in
common. (94).” Gordy agrees. This is one way that Arnold turned on the light,
and created his own happiness, at Reardan. Arnold even tries out for the school
basketball team. He goes to tryouts, “And that’s when I knew I was going to
make the team. Heck, I ended up on the varsity. As a freshman. Coach said I was
the best shooter who’d ever played for him. And I was going to be his secret
weapon. I was going to be his Weapon of Mass Destruction. (142).” Arnold
created his own hope and happiness at Reardan through making friends, and
playing on the school’s basketball team. He made the most of it. Before a big basketball
game against his best friend Rowdy, Arnold says, “I feel like this is the most
important night of my life. I feel like I have something to prove to the people
in Reardan, the people in Wellpinit, and to myself. I have to prove that I am
stronger than everybody else. I have to prove that I will never give up. I will
never quit playing hard. And I don’t just mean in basketball. I’m never going
to quit living this hard, you know? I’m never going to surrender to anybody.
Never, ever, ever. I’ve never wanted
anything more in my life.”(186).” Arnold really is stronger than everyone else,
because he never quits, or gives up, and he always finds the hope that he needs
to keep moving. He always creates his own hope, and never fails to turn on the
light.
Soon,
Arnold finds himself within one family tragedy after another. His Grandmother
and Father’s close friend Eugene both die. At this point, Arnold is devastated,
and ends up missing school for a little, while because of his grief. After a
few days, he finally shows up to class, and his Teacher mocks him in front of
the class about him missing school. His classmates were all there for him, and
knew he had missed school because of the deaths in his family. The all support
him by throwing their books down, and walking out of class. Then it was Arnold’s
turn. “I walked out of the classroom and felt like dancing and singing. It all
gave me hope. It gave me a little bit of joy. And I kept trying to find little
pieces of joy in my life. That’s the only way I managed to make it through all
of that death and change. I made a list of the people who had given me the most
joy in my life. (177.)” That little piece of hope triggered Arnold to again
create a little bit of hope for himself, to help himself make it through those
tough times. So he begins making lists of things that gave him joy, and is grateful
for having so many things he could create different lists about.
Arnold refers to a
story his Father had told him about a lake called, Turtle Lake. In the story, Turtle
Lake is a dangerous place to swim because, it’s so deep, and murky, that no one
could see the bottom of it. His father had said when they were younger; many
people on the reservation saw a horse sink in the river and disappear. They
eventually named it stupid horse. But weeks later, Stupid horse’s body was
washed up ten miles further down from Turtle Lake. The body was recovered, and burned, to do
away with it. The lake had caught on fire, and Stupid Horse’s body was found
again on the shore. “Despite being burned at the dump, and burned again in the lake
of fire, Stupid Horse was untouched. (224).” The story of Stupid Horse
represents Arnold in the sense of how he lives his life. It shows how he is
relentless, and does not give up. Even though Stupid Horse was supposed to
sink, and disappear, he still showed up on the shore every time. He’s just like
Arnold, who doesn’t give up, who keeps creating, and finding his hope, and doesn’t
give up.
In order to swim,
and not sink, one must create their own hope, and find the light, even in the
darkest of times. We just have to be that person, who actually turns the light
on, and stay positive and keep an optimistic outlook on life, like Arnold does.
In the words of Albus Dumbledore, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest
of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
