Lack of Control and Escape in "The Absolutely True Diary..."

One major theme in "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" is the idea of having control (or not!) over one's fate. When Junior describes his state of poverty, he ends the description with "It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it" (13). The remainder of the book tells the tale of Junior attempting to take control over his life and his destiny by stopping the spinning circle in its tracks.
This book also deals very much with the concept of escape. The major problem of alcoholism in the Indian reservation undoubtedly results from people's attempts to shut out the reality of life. Everyone, that is, except Junior's grandmother who said "Drinking would shut down my seeing and my hearing and my feeling. Why would I want to be in the world if I can't touch the world with all of my senses intact?" (158) Junior (whose level of maturity should be discussed as well) understands the reasoning behind the drunkenness; as he says, "There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away" (107). For most of the people on the reservation, alcohol is that means of escape from reality and the pain it holds. For Mary, it is romance novels. For Junior, it is the drawing of his cartoons, about which he says "I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats" (6). Sometimes it is through healthy means, such as drawing or writing, and sometimes it is through damaging means, like alcohol and drugs, but almost everyone has something in their lives that acts as a life boat amidst all confusion and pain.