In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, the words “retard” and “indian” were often used. The “indians” were portrayed as drunk and hopeless, supporting the negative stereotypes towards them. Sherman Alexie’s novel uses these negative stereotypes and terms in hopes to bring light to the problems behind these stereotypes and terms and explain them. Throughout this novel, stereotypes are used; they are explained and corrected as the novel goes on. The politically incorrect words “indian” or “retard” are used to present the reality of them.

It took the effort of an indigenous writer to help bring awareness and reality to the stories behind stereotypes of people who live on reservations. With his personal experiences of living in a Seattle reservation, he was able to create a fictional story of what life there or on reservations is like. With his experiences, he was able to create the story behind the stereotype of drunk indians. Indians are “drunk and unhappy” (212). They are drunk because they are unhappy and they are unhappy because they are drunk. Alexie informs readers that this unhappiness comes from the “sad, sad, sad reservation” (43) where the sadness comes from the society teaching them “how to give up” (42). This society that wants to “kill indian culture” (36) and assimilate and control the group. Instead of just stating these stereotypes, Alexie uses them in benefit of explaining the reason behind them. People view indians as drunk. They are drunks, but Alexie informs the readers why from the perspective of the protagonist, Junior. The stereotype that indians are all rich because of casinos and tax breaks was also eliminated when Junior mentioned that the casino is a “money-loosing business” (119). This protagonist sees the socially construct lack of hope and poverty in the reservation, and watches that lead to sadness coped with alcohol. With the support and use of the negative stereotypes, Alexie was able to get the chance to explain the serious reasons and problems behind them.

When the title uses the word “indian”, people instantly are thrown off and question it. When the word “retard” gets commonly used, people begin to try and see why, what the word means, and it’s effect. The word “indian” or “retard” can be seen as politically incorrect. When the novel is a National Book Award winner, readers will question the acceptance of the use of these words. The shock of this word being widely used in this novel makes people search the correctness of the term. With this research, people can discover the history and the relevance of this word. Alexie’s use of the word “indian” made people want to correct themselves; search up and find out that the word has no real relevance to these tribes; realize that it comes from colonization and accidental term for a group of people by Columbus; and know that there’s no harm or offense in using this word as an umbrella term for tribes that lived on this country before colonization. When it comes to the word “retard”, Alexie uses it so harshly from the protagonists mouth, it becomes known as offensive. When Junior calls himself a “retard”(4) that is part of the “retards on the rez”(4) who get beaten up, it is agreeable that it is a cruel term for those who are different. It fits it’s context and really reveals the extent of Junior’s differences. Alexie takes advantage of his position and uses these terms; as result, he makes learning the reality of these words possible. Using these terms that seem incorrect is the way that Alexie supports the understanding of these terms and how they should or shouldn’t be used.

Sherman Alexie supports these negative stereotypes and terms in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to explain them to the readers and help bring understanding to the problems behind them, eliminating the negative perception of them. The belief that Indigenous people are drunks had a reason behind them, a seriously problematic reason, that was explained. This explanation was shown through the perspective of Junior watching his tribe members give up and result to alcohol abuse to numb their problems. The unprofessional terms were used to bring light to the meaning of these words; Alexie used them to show the readers what they really meant and the purpose of these terms. It is through the use and support of these stereotypical terms and views that readers can begin to realize the incorrect perspective of them and help correct themselves. Alexie supported and took advantage of all these stereotypes, to help eliminate the misconception behind them, in his novel about an Indian boy named Junior.