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Comparative Paper: The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Beloved by Tony Morrison

To produce a piece of written work, most authors must first speculate on or develop potential answers to issues facing society. Reading works of literature can provide readers with new perspectives on the world and the mechanisms that govern it. They provide valuable life lessons by demonstrating to readers that they can overcome challenges and emerge victorious. According to the findings of several empirical investigations, authors frequently draw inspiration for the themes and motifs of their works from the events and circumstances that occur in the lives of real people (Sherman). Both “Beloved” and “The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” share several recurring ideas and story structures throughout. Authors of literary works frequently employ these strategies to appeal to a large audience (Bane 144). Both works share several concerns that the authors aim to emphasize to raise awareness about urgent social issues.

“The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie and “Beloved” by Tony Morrison is about the lives of Native Americans in the United States and were written by Sherman Alexie and Tony Morrison, respectively. Sherman Alexie and Tony Morrison, the writers of both novels, are the publishers of those volumes. Sherman Alexie is the author of both of these works of literature. Junior, a young Native American youngster, is the narrative’s focal point in Alexie’s book. The plot revolves around him as the main character. Junior decides to go off of the reservation so that he can attend a high school that is entirely comprised of white students. Sethe, the protagonist of Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, is a formerly enslaved woman who has recently experienced the death of her child. Before her daughter was taken away from her and sold into slavery, Sethe served as a caregiver for her. The presence of Sethe’s daughter’s spirit entirely controls every aspect of her life, including her very existence. The two books each conduct research into the past, and present struggles of Native Americans and narratively offer their findings. The books both study the history of Native Americans.

Morrison’s Beloved explores Afro-American neighborhoods and culture with terrifying depth and dynamic language. She teaches the reader about African American issues in her thorough tales and shows them. In Beloved, Morrison portrays slavery on a Kentucky-Ohio plantation. Her statements suggest that enslaved people were vicious to their masters. Beloved is more than a tale; it has its own life. Her work is stunning. Morrison’s Ohio upbringing makes her a noteworthy novelist. Morrison sets several of her pieces in Ohio. “I am from the Midwest, so I love it,” she remarked. Ohio is always my home state. Whatever I am writing starts there. A departure is provided here from the usual black stereotypes. There will be no ghettos or plantations. The book titled While Alexie Sherman Tells Her Stories is about a young Native American girl named Alexie Sherman who lives on a reservation and recounts stories about her life there. The book “The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” tells the story of a young Native American boy who moves away from the reservation so that he can attend school. Alexie tells the plot of each novel using a unique combination of literary devices. Alexie writes The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from the first-person point of view, which lets the reader experience the story’s events as if they were seen through the eyes of the main character, Junior. Alexie writes Sherman Tells Her Stories from a third-person point of view, allowing the reader to experience the story’s events from the narrator’s perspective.

Although both stories are about oppression and employ optimism as a character attribute, “The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” does a better job of convincingly presenting this idea than the other book since it emphasizes more of an emphasis on the setting of the student’s school. ” Beloved” inspires people to work toward the collective improvement of all community members. The use of symbolism is prevalent throughout both of these works, and it serves an essential literary purpose. The metaphor is the author’s use of one thing to describe another differently. In “The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” the author uses a particular phrase to allude to something more significant than the term (Mootz 199). Sherman calls his friend “a giant, stupid dreamer like myself,” which is also how he describes himself. (p. 23). They assert that they are located at the height of at least one hundred feet above the ground. They believe that they could view everything that has ever existed in the universe at that moment.

On the other hand, Tony Morrison’s novel Beloved uses a novel approach to writing by beginning with a narrative that is not linear. At this point in the story, the plot goes straight into the thick of the action, and the reader is introduced to several unique individuals and background information on each of them. In addition, the narration has switched to the third-person omniscient point of view. Although there are many references to things that happened in the past, most of the action occurs in the present tense, as is customary for stories recounted in flashback format. However, there are also frequent allusions to events that took place in the past. It is a simple piece of writing that uses both formal and informal language in its sentence structure, and as a result, it is straightforward and simple (Zink 213).

Similarly, both text uses symbolism as a writing technique. Tony Morrison employs symbolism throughout the novel Beloved to explore the topics of motherhood, love, and grief. The characters in the book each represent a particular facet of the subjects being explored, and the symbols connected to those individuals assist in shedding light on the concepts that the author is investigating (Bane 145). For instance, the figure of Sethe represents the power that comes with motherhood, and her baby symbolizes the pure love between a mother and her kid. Another key symbol in the book is the death of an infant, which represents the loss of one’s childhood innocence and the anguish that comes with losing a loved one. This keeps people from sharing all of their secrets. Both writers have used symbolism to convey their communion with the divine will. Both works extensively use metaphors to elaborate on their grandiose themes (Mootz 200).

The key lessons that can be learned from each story are another way in which they are distinct. The book’s primary message needs to be addressed, which connects the reader’s comprehension of accounting concepts and their experiences in the natural world. The author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” intended to convey a great deal of information through the medium of the novel. However, he is striving to communicate to the audience a fundamental idea, which is the main point of his speech. He is doing the equivalent of a single individual acting (Wulandari). The theme of friendship is explored in several ways across the two volumes. Throughout “The True Diary,” Junior develops relationships with both white people and Native Americans. One of Junior’s most meaningful and authentic relationships is the one he shares with Rowdy. At some point in your life, you will have the epiphany that “Who matters, who never did, who will not anymore… and who will always continue to matter.” (chapter13) They are going to use them as examples in a story that is going to be about friendship. According to Alexie’s version of events, the protagonist asserts, “Rowdy has protected me ever since the day we were born” (p13). However, Beloved depicts an intimate subject in the sense that the characters Sethe and Beloved are involved in a romantic connection with one another throughout the story. Beloved’s mother is named Sethe, and Beloved has a close relationship with her. Beloved is constantly the focus of Sethe’s efforts to provide safety and security for her.

In conclusion, both books’ writing is powerful and poetic. Both writers, via their respective language, provide a realistic picture of the lives of the individuals in their stories. Both of these books are written lyrically, making them fun to read and enabling the reader to understand the characters better. The significance of family and community in the lives of Native Americans is the subject of examination in both of these works. This is an essential topic in Morrison’s body of work since she often writes about individuals attempting to find their place within their society but having difficulty doing so. The works “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie and “Beloved” by Tony Morrison differ in their writing styles. To begin, Alexie’s book is written from the first-person perspective, while Morrison’s is written from the third-person perspective. In addition, the book by Alexie focuses on the coming-of-age tale of a young Native American kid. In contrast, the novel written by Morrison concentrates on the consequences of slavery. The book by Alexie is far more hilarious than the one by Morrison.

Work Cited

Bane, Treasa. “Self-determined stories: The Indigenous reinvention of young adult literature.” (2019): 144–147. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48644505

Mootz, Kaylee Jangula. “Self-Determined Stories: The Indigenous Reinvention of Young Adult Literature. Mandy Suhr-Sytsma.” (2020): 199–201.

Sherman, Alexie. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.” CELL 608 (2009): 0753. https://nancymariemithlo.com/images/category/6-ACommonRead_Brochure.pdf

Wulandari, Diyah Fitri. “The Negative Impact of Racial Discrimination Experienced by African-American People Reflected in Angie Thomas’ The Hate You Give.” Prosiding Konstelasi Ilmiah Mahasiswa Unissula (KIMU) Klaster Humanoira (2021).

Zink, Amanda J. “The Political Arrays of American Indian Literary History. James H. Cox.” (2021): 213–215. https://academic.oup.com/melus/article-abstract/46/3/213/6373653

 

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