The Loss of one's Loved

Author’s note: I am writing this on the theme Coping with Loss in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

The book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about a Indian kid named Arnold who lives on a reservation and after a dispute at his school he transfers to the non reservation school that is full of white people. It is also about how a young adult copes with death around him.

The first death Junior has to cope with is the loss of his dog, Oscar, when a heat wave hits the Reservation and the family doesn’t have enough money to take him to the vet and get his fever cured so Junior’s father has to shoot him in order to ease his suffering. When Junior transfers he loses his best friend Rowdy who now hates him. Both of these shake Junior to the core, but he still gets back up and never gives up on himself.

The next death Junior experiences is one of the worst kinds when his grandmother dies after being hit by a drunk driver. When his grandmother dies Junior almost shuts out the world, but even then he could still think of his grandmother and how she would always tell him to never give up, so with the help of his friends and family he powers through again.

Even through all this it seems as though fate has it out for Junior when Junior’s sister leaves the Reservation, shortly after Junior transfers, and gets married to another Indian. When Junior learns that his sister has moved away he is heartbroken, but he realizes that she could come back to the reservation. The second time he loses her it is for good when a fire burns down her trailer with her in it and she dies.

For most people coping with the loss of someone treasured is common, for others it isn’t. For Junior Coping with Loss is a really common thing, but it is also something that is helpful to him n that he should never give up hope until the day he dies like his grandmother and his sister did.