Alcoholism in the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”

The impact of a real-life problem reflected in the story of Arnold Spirit Jr. ("Junior")

A report by the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 11.7% of deaths among Native Americans and Alaska Natives were alcohol-related, all of this between 2001 and 2005. In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Sherman Alexie presents us, through the story of Junior, the protagonist, how big has been the problem of the alcohol abuse in Native Americans reservations.  It is not recent news that alcoholism can trigger many problems not only for those people who drink but also for those who surround them. 

Junior´s life is affected directly by alcoholism. In the book, his family suffered a lot with this problem. For example, one of the few people who have never drunk alcohol was his grandmother and ironically, she is one of the victims of alcohol abuse. On page 117 can be read: “she was walking back home from a mini powwow at the Spokane Tribal Community Center, when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver.”

Here, it can be seen that alcohol not only affects those who drink. A lot of people are victims of drunken people in different situations. According to the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 34.4% of the alcohol-related deaths are traffic accidents, the leading cause among Indians in four years of study. The second one was the alcoholic live disease with 21.2%.

Another example is the death of Eugene, the best friend of Junior´s dad. On page 126 can be read: “A few days after I gave Penelope a homemade Valentine… my dad’s best friend, Eugene, was shot in the face in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in Spokane. Way drunk, Eugene was shot and killed by one of his good friends, Bobby, who was too drunk to even remember pulling the trigger. The police think Eugene and Bobby fought over the last drink in a bottle of wine... A few weeks later, in jail, Bobby hung himself with a bedsheet.” 

It goes in agreement with the third and the fourth alcohol-related cause of deaths in Indians from the study of the CDCP developed from 2001 to 2005: Homicide with a 6.6%, and Suicide with the 5.2% of deaths.

Another one, and the last one that will be treated, is the death of Mary, Junior´s sister. On page 154 can be read: “They had a big party,” My father said. “And your sister and her husband passed out in the back bedroom. And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left. And a curtain drifted in on the wind and caught the hot plate, and the trailer burned down quick... The police say your sister never even woke up,” my father said. “She was too drunk.” 

This kind of death is not considered in the research, but it's regular to see people dying by these kinds of accidents caused by alcohol or other kinds of drugs.

Alcoholism is a big problem that is affecting, directly and indirectly, a lot of people. We can see that Sherman Alexie not only wanted to entertain us with his book. It is a kind of advice to all of us. All the things that happened to Junior caused by alcohol abuse are terrible. The most worrying thing is that these types of tragedies happen day by day, even right now while you are reading my blog. I assure you that all of us know at least one person who has this addiction. Alcohol can be a big problem and it can affect your life forever... It can even take your life. Say no to alcohol! Say no to any drug!

Learn more about it clicking on these links:

https://www.recovery.org/alcohol-addiction/native-americans/

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5734a3.htm

https://canyonvista.com/alcohol-abuse-native-american-community/