In The Part Time-Indian and Long Long after School

Effect of Minor Characters on Major Characters in novels In The Part Time-Indian and Long Long after School

In every novel there are minor characters as well as the major characters. Sometimes the role of the minor characters is very much influential on the major characters due to which the audience remembers them even if they are represented as minor characters. This is evident from the two novels (In The Part Time-Indian and Long Long after School ) that will be discussed in the current essay. The essay will focus on the how In The Part Time-Indian and Long Long after School the main characters get assistance from minor characters.

In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Arnold is a good example of someone who needs the assistance of others to help him grow and change. Someone influential in Arnold’s life who assists him to mature is, Mr.P. The advice Mr.P gives to Arnold is very sincere and accurate., “If you stay on this Rez,” Mr. P said, “they’re going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. We’re all going to kill you. You can’t fight us forever”(Alexie 43). The way in which Mr.P assisted Arnold during his growth and development stage shows to leave the reservation if he wanted to be successful; this was in fact the best advice he can give him.

Moreover, Arnold takes the advice seriously. This shows that how the minor character in the novel such as Mr. P plays a significant role in boosting the self esteem and moral of the major character who is Arnold. Mr P also gives him the confidence to leave the reservation and to change his future by making friends of which he never had before. Eventually, the beneficial advice Mr. P gives to Arnold helps him with his future circumstances, one of which is making new friends.

Additionally, some other minor characters that we might investigate in this novel are Arnold’s grandmother who also partook in helping him to grow and change for the better. For instance, when Arnold wanted advice about Roger, she stated, “Yes way! You see, you men and boys are like packs of wild dogs. This giant boy is the alpha male of the school, and you’re the new dog, so he pushed you around a bit to see how tough you are” (Alexie 68) . The spirit of Grandma gives Arnold moral support and strength to overcome his problems with Roger at Reardon. Arnold decided to take matters into his own hands after hearing the analogy from his grandmother. He takes matters into his own hands by punching Roger to gain respect. The grandmother’s advice had a positive outcome for Arnold. He and Roger start off at odds, yet with this turn of events, they manage to work out their differences to become best friends in the end.

Similarly, in the novel "Long Long After School” some of the minor characters also played a significant role in helping and assisting the major characters. For example, in the novel the character of Miss Tretheway seems to be well developed and important in assisting Wes through his life and school. As when it is stated “She was so beautiful"(113). Through out the novel the character seems to be respectable and kind. The reason Tretheway seems to be helpful to Wes was the fact that she understood well the feelings Wes going through and felt his pain. She always found ways to ease the pain and discomfort of Wes through her kind words which made him feel better.

Furthermore, when Wes was tortured and anguished by his class mates Miss Tretheway knew exactly how to heal and cure his emotional scares. This is evident from this when Wes said “I was taking Mrs. Banks's wash home on my sled, and you were coasting down the hill. The Basket upset, and all the things fell out. Miss Tretheway cam along and you all ran. She helped me pick up the stuff and shake the snow off it. She went with me right to Mrs.Banks's door and told her what happened"(114).

 It is also interesting to see that how the minor character such as Miss Tretheway played a significant role when she saved Wes from certain death. For instance, when Wes was going to bleed to death after punching a hole in the window Miss Tretheway saved his life by giving him her blood as both the blood groups were same. She said to Wes, "I didn't know whether an old maids blood would be any good to a fine young specimen like you, Wes, or not"(115,116).

In conclusion the minor characters in the novels In The Part Time-Indian and Long Long after School played a vital role in helping and assisting the major characters. The minor characters such as Mr. P in the Part Time-Indian and Miss Tretheway in Long Long after School no doubt added spice in the stories and also polished the memorable scenes in the novel by constantly serving and assisting the major characters through their kind nature and sympathetic tone.