Role of the Artist

Kayla Reid

“ I feel important with a pen in my hand. I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important,” (Alexie, 6) shows that artwork is important to people. Junior has little faith in his other skills but believes so much in his artistic skills to make him somebody because that is the only way he believes that people will listen to him. I can personally relate to this because when I was in high school, the only other talent I had was that I could grow plants and nobody cared about that however, other people cared that I could draw a plant. So what is it about artists that make their skills so powerful? Why do people take so much pride in their art? I feel that people can understand and relate to some artwork more then they can a difficult subject like science. For Junior artwork is also a release from his everyday life and like him, I want to be somebody important and I don’t think that I can just by growing plants. Junior sees himself as not being important or worthless but people respect an artist’s skills and admire how artists are able to make artwork. Junior also uses his art skills to make people laugh and I think that that is a way that art is powerful because artwork and change emotions and introduce new ideas. Junior makes fun of himself with drawings and I believe that he is embarrassing or exaggerating the caricatures of him because he knows that people look down on him. It’s as if he is transforming his flaws into something that can make other people laugh and that laughter makes him feel better. Rather then letting that set him back, he chooses to not allow others to upset him.

What are the uses of the cartoons in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian?

How do the pictures add to the tone of the book?

Imagine that Junior’s pictures were not there, would you still have the same perception of the people or events?