How to Swim: Sherman Alexie rough draft Essay

Christina Hunter

English 102

February 14^th, 2013

How to Swim

      James Baldwin once said, “If you’re not able to articulate what is inside, and around you, you will be submerged by it.” I believe that quote is true, in many ways. In Sherman Alexie’s book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the protagonist, Arnold Spirit is able to overcome many obstacles in his young life, because of just that. He’s able to articulate what’s going on inside, and around him. Through drawing cartoons, he’s able to accept, and forgive the circumstances he has to deal with, and shows how to have an optimistic outlook on life, and have hope for his future.

    Arnold lives on a Native American reservation in Spokane, Washington. He explains how living on the reservation makes it hard for anyone to accomplish any type of life- long goals. After having a serious one-on-one talk with his math teacher, Mr. P, Arnold soon finds out that in order for him to accomplish his dreams, he needs to remove himself from the reservation, and find hope for the future. After a long time of thinking, Arnold questions his parents about where he can find hope, so he asks them, “Who has the most hope?” I asked. Mom and Dad looked at each other. They studied each other’s eyes, you know, like they had antennas and were sending radio signals to each other. And then they both looked back at me. “Come on,” I said. “Who has the most hope?” “White people,” my parents said at the same time. That’s exactly what I thought they were going to say, so I said the most surprising thing they’d ever heard from me. “I want to transfer schools,” I said. (45).” Arnold decides to transfer to an all white school, called Reardan.  By going to Reardan, Arnold will get a better education than the one he’s currently getting, and will put him that much closer to hope. Because Arnold was able to articulate what was going on around him, he was able to make a daring decision, and leave his comfort zone to get something better. To get hope.

Drawing cartoons is another method that Arnold uses, in order to articulate, and analyze the situations that are going on in his life, so that he is not submerged by them.  For example, Arnold’s first day of school at Reardan is a pretty scary one for him. And who could blame him? Just walking into school makes him the minority. He is the only new kid there, and doesn’t know anyone else that goes to Reardan. For example, Arnold sketches a picture of himself, (with a line down the middle, with himself drawn has two different Arnolds. One side is the “white” Arnold, and the other side is the, “Indian” Arnold. The white Arnold wears a Ralph Lauren shirt, and Tommy Hilfiger khakis, while the Indian Arnold wears a Kmart T-shirt, and jeans from Sears. By drawing this cartoon, Arnold is able to express exactly how he’s feeling, in his own way. When leaving the reservation to go to Reardan, Arnold is called an “apple,” meaning red on the outside, but white on the inside. But when he attends Reardan, he feels like he doesn’t fit in. Arnold feels like he gets knocked from both sides. By drawing cartoons, Arnold is able to overcome this obstacle.

Arnold is also able to forgive. Arnold’s gift of forgiveness is also what allows him to swim, and not be submerged by the circumstances. When Arnold’s Father comes home after a few nights of being drunk during the holiday season, he gives him a five dollar bill, what was left after using the rest of their money on alcohol.  Arnold chooses to forgive his Dad, as he thinks, “Drunk for a week, my father must have really wanted to spend those last five dollars. Shoot, you can buy a bottle of the worst whiskey for five dollars. He could have spent that five bucks and stayed drunk for another day or two. But he saved it for me. It was a beautiful and ugly thing. “Thanks Dad,” I said. (151)” Arnold is extremely forgiving towards his father. Other kids his age might have been more judgmental, but because he is so forgiving, he is able to make best out of the situation, along with many others.

    Through articulation, forgiveness, and being optimistic, Arnold is able to overcome his toughest situations, and move forward with his life, to wherever hope is. Even if that means doing something daring and out of his comfort zone. This is how Arnold doesn’t sink, and is able to swim.