The conflicts portrayed in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie are of two types, those within the Native American community and those in which the Native American community comes into conflict with the white community. The protagonist, Junior, is involved in both of these communities.
The first major conflict for Junior and many of the other Native American characters in the story is that of the degree to which they should remain within the reservation and its culture or whether they need to interact with the surrounding white culture. For those who choose to leave the reservation for school or career, they must balance the type of cultural assimilation necessary for success in the outside world with trying to hold on to their own traditions and values.
Junior struggles for acceptance among his peers, wanting to avoid the violence and alcoholism the plague the reservation, but also not wanting to assimilate to the unthinking prejudices of the white children.
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