As a book depicting a young Native American’s pursuit for hope and growing up, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian includes scenes of the protagonist struggling with his Indian identity, which consists of stereotypes such as poverty, stupidity as well as inferiority. The process of overcoming these biases serves as the hidden clues for the story development, revealing the protagonist’s inner growth, and thus making itself the main theme of the novel.

In the protagonist’s early belief, Arnold Spirit was convinced that the Indians were born to be poor, and this poverty would go all the way down to their descendants. To him, the starving times were not the worst problem. But when his loyal dog Oscar was killed by his parents just because they could not afford to take it to the vet, he was desperate to find a way to change his miserable reservation life. The remorse of being unable to save the ones he cared about might serve as a great stimulation to his active response to Mr. P’s suggestion, and would have proven his rising determination to make a change towards his identity.

In addition, it is maybe due to the brain disease which had accompanied Arnold since his birth that made the protagonist question his intelligence, and accept the bias of stupidity as he got to Reardan for study—though this is probably the stereotype with the least evidence to verify. In fact, this bias was the first to be overcome as soon as Arnold defeated his science teacher with the truth that petrified wood is not wood. Serving as another important turning point for Arnold’s position among white students, the event would have a more significant meaning on making him realize that most biases are merely arbitrary, breakable stereotypes.

In comparison, the bias of inferiority is way more implicit since it suggests a born inferiority for Indians to other human races. Perhaps for its severity, this bias is not directly revealed in the main storyline, but by several textual details. In spite of views of the whites demonstrated by the nasty joke Roger played on Arnold when they first meet as well as the threats from Penelope’s father, it is sad to see that this bias has even gone into Indians’ minds from the repelling attitude of the reservation Indians towards Reardan. While others succumb to its existence, the protagonist chose to be the first Spokane Indian in a school for whites as his first step of rejection. Making friends with the intelligent Gordy, winning Penelope’s heart, and fighting alongside with Coach Roger and other Reardan teammates on the court, these stages not only represent Arnold’s adaptation to a new community, but also his victories in breaking the stereotype of inferiority by proving that Indians like him can live as brightly as whites do, or even better.

If this book is only about a story of growing up, then it might not have achieved what it has today. What is more important is that it has successfully blended a teenager’s growth with racial biases, and it is by demonstrating the protagonist’s process of self-recognition that the novel teaches its readers about the proper attitudes towards racial identities, that is, living our lives without being bounded by others’ stereotypes. Therefore, it can be concluded that the theme of overcoming racial stereotypes is a glittering feature of the whole story.