Whiteness In a Part-Time Indian

I thought it was interesting to consider how Whiteness was both the only medium for hope in the story, and yet the crippling cause of shame and stagnation for all the characters, including Junior.

From the beginning of the story, the reader is presented with a dual understanding of Whiteness. Mr. P, an old wretched and depressed caricature of the evil and yet repentant white man, serves to represent the pervasive shame that cripples every Indian trapped on the reservation. At the same time, we come to learn that Junior's only hope for survival is to engross himself in the most white school accessible to him. The complexity of appealing to the oppressor for personal salvation is somewhat astounding. I have come to think that Junior's motivation stems from the need to see the whites in a humane light, so that there exists the possibility of growth for the relationship between the oppressed and oppressive actors. Without that sense of progress, hope for equality is stunted, and the roles are to become permanent i suppose.