"We're gonna that channel that fandom into critical analysis!"
Spoilers ahead for Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Originally I was gonna do the second Skellig day, but we talked about so many things briefly that none of it makes for a cohesive blog post. So onto Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian!
Class kicked off with talking about the fact that Alexie is a cross-over author and defining crossover and what that means, but y'all already know that, so we're going to skip to the fun part.
Like analyzing the title!
Junior's personality and how he sees things plays a big part in ATD (what, you expected me to spell it out every time?), so the fact that it starts off in the title is faaaaabulous.
It also comes across in the illustrations and comics that Junior does throughout the story. It adds to the understanding of Junior's perspective and character, and adds to the humor, but it also changes how the book is read. (Also see: question for the comments!)
We also talked about the importance of the epigraph and how it ties into the overall theme of the -- you guessed it! -- bildsdungroman plot. The epigraph is by W.B. Yeats, and it speaks about two worlds and yadayada.
It plays symbolic importance -- like most epigraphs do! -- in Junior's life. Junior has two worlds that are only 20 miles apart and are completely different, but is presence in both is unifying them and linking them thematically and sociologically.
And, you know, literally - he walks back and forth every day.
Next week, we tackle the last book of the class, the once you've all been waiting for - The Hunger Games.
Question for the comments:
Does Junior's use of comics and doodles subvert the realism of the novel? Does it make it harder to read the story or does it add to it?
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