An Intertextual Approach To The Initiation In The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian And The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

When it comes to a literary work whose protagonist is an adolescent,it is likely that the work might be labeled as “initiation story”.In literary criticism,the concept of initiation story falls into two categories.The first considers initiation as a passage of the young from ignorance about the external world to some vital knowledge,and the second refers to self-discovery and self-realization.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,National Book Winner in 2007,is the fourth novel as well as the first attempt to initiation story by Native American writer Sherman Joseph Alexie,Jr.,a stand-up poet,novelist,screenwriter,filmmaker and even an occasional comedian.Alexie's writing draws much on his experience as an Indigenous American with ancestry from several tribes.The Diary,as a coming-of-age story that begins as a memoir of his life and family on the Spokane Indian Reservation,mainly deals with the adolescent life experience in the name of Arnold Junior Spirit.Told in episodic diary style,The Diary moves from the start of the school year,through major holidays,to the beginning of summer.The Diary parallels the American classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in many ways.Seemingly,The Diary inherits and develops characteristics and narrative mode from Huck Finn.The thesis argues that Alexie is a great inheritor to Twain and The Diary is indeed a response to Huck Finn with distinguishing features,in which initiation story,intertextuality and hybridity are combined to lay the theoretical foundation.Through the analysis of the most prominent character—loneliness—in the two adolescent boys' personalities,the thesis insists that loneliness is a necessary consequence of keeping innocence.Their fiction,or lie,functions as a vehicle of self-protection and self-realization.Furthermore,their actions of escape—Junior's choice of leaving the reservation and Huck's journey down the Mississippi—are the innocent outcome of their age and environment.The thesis,centering on two adolescent boys from two controversial novels,is developed into three chapters with an introduction and a conclusion.The introduction gives a brief survey of the preeminent contributions by Alexie and Twain and the previous literary review on The Diary and Huck Finn.In this part,I put forward the idea that The Diary inherits and develops characteristics and narrative mode bearing in Huck Finn.Chapter One combs concepts of initiation story,intertextuality,and hybridity in the context of the two novels.The second chapter,centering on the overlapping of the two adolescent boys' traits,is devoted to an in-depth study of the initiation crisis of the two adolescent boys,namely,Huck's image as an innocent misfit and Junior's role as a part-time Indian.Truly,vulnerability,painfulness,loneliness as well as confusion in morality choice are inevitable in boyhood.Loneliness,produced by certain self-protection mechanism,is not only the cause of pain experienced by adolescent boys but also the emotional manifestation of the act—alienation.The last chapter focuses on Junior's self-realization by “off-the-rez” and Huck's loyalty to “the Mississippi Ethic” he learns from his experience with Jim.The thesis pays particular attention on their imaginary fiction or lies,stating that their fiction—a compound of lies—is somehow a vehicle towards innocence.For them,life and fiction engage in an eternal exchange.Thus,the conclusion asserts that The Diary,a response to the classic Huck Finn,inherits and develops adolescent boys' struggle in keeping innocence and pursuit of freedom.These two novels should be taken as serious work in spite of their language using.Moreover,Junior's choice of “off-the-rez” is not a rush decision but the pure outcome of his age and his environment.In the ending part of Huck Finn,Huck is free but has no place to go.Therefore,it is comforting that Junior finds his way by embracing hybridity without betraying innocence.