Poverty is everywhere; it's in your garden, in front of your door, it can even be in your own house. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, poverty is the most important theme in the book because it has negatively influenced Junior's life. Poverty is the main theme as it has affected the decisions of Junior, his family and the entire Indian community. First of all, poverty was already present in Junior's family. Being poor can affect you in many ways, but poverty affected Junior's family because they couldn't afford anything. They didn't have enough money since his father usually gambled most of their money. They couldn't afford to buy food because they lived on an Indian reservation in Spokane. They couldn't take Junior's best friend Oscar, his dog, to the hospital. They could barely afford to buy Junior new clothes. “I wish I was magical, but really I'm just a poor reservation kid living on his poor Spokane Indian Reservation” (7). Poverty means you are poor and when you are poor you must starve. Poverty caused Junior to lose his best friend. Poverty made him and his family suffer due to lack of money. Junior wishes he was magical because he and his family barely had enough to eat. What Junior meant by magic was that he wished he could change things with a snap of his fingers. After Oscar's death, Junior wanted to blame his parents for Oscar's death, but he couldn't. Junior couldn't do it because he and his family have always been poor and there's nothing they can do about it. They can't change the past, but they didn't know they could change the future. Junior's ancestors were poor and now Junior and his family are poor. “And it’s not like my mom and dad were born into wealth. It's not like they... middle of paper......, your hopes and dreams. Poverty is the most important theme in Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because it affected Junior's life. in a negative way. Poverty is the main theme as it affects the entire Indian community, Junior's family, and Junior's decisions. Poverty can affect you in many ways, but for Junior, his family, and the entire Indian community on the reservation, poverty was a life-threatening problem. Even so, poverty is a repetitive cycle that will continue until you grow out of it and decide for yourself that this is not the path you want to take. Poverty can happen to anyone, and everyone will experience poverty at some point. It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to stay in poverty. Works CitedAlexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianNew York: Little Brown. 2007.