How does Arnold's views of the reservation and his own life differ in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian?

The fundamental difference between Junior and the life he
sees on the reservation lies his resistance to capitulate to such an existence.  From
the moment he rejects being taught out of a book from which his mother was taught,
Junior defines himself against the life of the standard Native American who lives on the
reservation.  His intense disavowal of alcohol is another example of how Junior defines
his life as fundamentally different from the Native American life lived on the rez.  The
fact that he goes to Reardon with White kids and a White community also represents how
he will continue to define his own life on alternate terms.  There is struggle for him
in terms of academics and social, but as the narrative progresses, Junior seems more
content accepting these struggles because they do not represent life on the reservation
or life of the standard Native American.  From his own experiences, Junior comes to
associate such a life with a form of death, both physical and emotional.  In order to
avoid this, he takes the form opposite of his world, and while it is something that
people like Rowdy cannot understand, Junior recognizes and gains solidity in grasping
that his definition alternate to the reality in front of him is vitally important to his
identity.