Hiding the Reservation

There is always the internal conflict between fitting in and standing out. In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Junior does both. At Reardan he wants to be accepted, and in doing so he tries to fit in. In order to fit in he has to be like them leading him to hide where he is from. He isn't judged nor stereotyped in doing so of hiding his background. On the rez he stands out by doing what most Indians don’t, and doing more than what is expected of him. This is why he hides his background because Indians aren't expected to have long term goals. Fitting in at Reardan meant proving he wasn't just another Indian which led to hiding what was an Indian. When attending Whitney Young most don’t do what Junior had to do. Since there are many ethnic backgrounds, culturally most don’t hide anything. In fact, it is even interesting to hear of different cultures and traditions. In some way there are some people who hide their “rez,” or their past so to speak. When attending a new school, it’s a fresh start. People don’t know who you are until you tell and show them. Some people hide their past from their old school, or even pretend to have been something else. The reason for this I believe is neither to be accepted, nor to stand out but more to not have their history be their present again. It isn't the “culture” of Whitney Young but more an idea of starting again, getting another opportunity to become a better version of yourself without people knowing who you were. This is similar to junior’s case of not being like the other Indians and being a better version of himself, and giving himself higher expectations because whether one thinks they can or can’t one is always right.