Sherman Alexie s A Native American - 859 Words

The arrival of Europeans and their expansion across North America negatively affected the Native American people’s culture, politics, religion, economy, and population. Sherman Alexie’s This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona is a story about the suffering, current social problems, and hope for a new beginning for the Native American people. Alexie, a Native American himself, skillfully narrates Victor and Thomas’s journey to recover Victor father’s ashes from Phoenix, Arizona, reflecting on the many challenges and difficulties from Native Americans inside the reservations. Alexie begins the story describing Victor’s personal and financial troubles. He immediately sets the conditions to lead the reader into the story’s plot, and at the same time creates a parallel about social and economical problems inside the reservation. By commenting â€Å"Who does have money on a reservation, except the cigarettes and fireworks sales people?†(2), he connects the dots between Victor’s economic issues and those living in any Native American reservation. This is not a message about resilience, but about the poverty and economical disadvantage Native Americans face every day. In a quote from his book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie speaks about the problem of poverty by writing, â€Å"Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor† (11). As Victor and Thomas’ journey develops, the writer usesShow MoreRelatedSherman Alexie s Life Of A Teenage Native American832 Words   |  4 Pages Before reading this book, I honestly knew little about Native American. I knew that many lived on reservations, but I knew nothing about those reservations. By being brutally honest, Sherman Alexie provided incite to how the everyday life of a teenage Native American is like. This book opened my eyes to the problems that Native American’s face, that I was in the dark about before. Life on a reservation is a lot different than I would have thought it to be. Many people, including myself think aboutRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s A Native American Activist 862 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona† Many underprivileged groups such as, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, just to name a few, often struggle to flourish within society due to lack of resources and lose their identity in assumption of their â€Å"inadequacy†. Sherman Alexie, a Native American activist, reveals the effects of poverty through the life of Victor, a young Native American living in a reservation, in his short story, â€Å"This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona†Read MoreSherman Alexie On Living Outside Borders1036 Words   |  5 Pagesinterview â€Å"Sherman Alexie on Living Outside Borders†, Moyer’s interviews Native American author and poet Sherman Alexie. In the Moyer’s and Company interview, Alexie shares his story about the struggles that he endured during his time on a Native American reservation located at Wellpinit, Washington. During the interview, Alexie goes in-depth about his conflicts that plagued the reservation. In an award-winning book by Sherman Alexie called â€Å"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian†, Alexie writesRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 1233 Words   |  5 Pagesin Heaven† the theme of resilience is deliberately presented. Native Americans past and present continue to face stifling issues such as racism, alcoholism, isolation and suicide. Sherman Alexie makes it his obligation in his stories and poems to show Native American resiliency through humor. By using his characters to show resiliency through humor Alexie presents humor as an integral part of Native American survival. In Sherman Alexie’s best work to date The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist FightRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 932 Words   |  4 Pagesknow that Sherman Alexie is a Native American poet, novelist, and performer. Sherman Alexie s key characteristics to his writing are irony and dark humor. Sherman Alexie’s main focus in his writing is his experience as a Native American. â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† is a short story that talks about his relationship with a white woman. There is also a lot of contrast between the way Native Americans are seen all through the story and in the reservation. Sherman Alexie s short storiesRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1598 Words   |  7 Pageshas been shown through Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In this novel, he attempts to shed light on the struggles Native American people, specifically on the Spokane Reservation, withstand through multiple stories and perspectives. Some novels, if their perspective of truth has not been taken into account, still affect people in their everyday lives, albeit major or minor. While all novels do have lessons, whether they be good or bad,  an author s obligation to tell theRead MoreSherman Alexie s Without Reservation980 Words   |  4 PagesWhen it comes to the topic of Native Americans and tradition most will agree that Sherman Alexie is not the typical Indian writer and that he has in effect isolated himself. Jess Row in his article â€Å"Without Reservation†, depicts Sherman Alexie as a storyteller that use s non developing dark humor which in turn portrays his theme among each short story in Blasphemy. I agree with Row’s argument that Alexie maintains a sense of humor throughout his writings but that it develops prematurely. I also believeRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1534 Words   |  7 Pagesthis can be shown through Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In this novel, he attempts to shed light of the struggles Native American people, specifically on the Spokane Reservation, withstand through multiple stories and perspectives. Some novels, if their perspective of truth is not taken into account, still affect people in their every day lives, albeit major or minor. While all novels do have lessons, whether they be good or bad,  an author s obligation to tell the truthRead MoreSherman Alexie s Childhood And Education1896 Words   |  8 PagesSherman Alexie’s childhood and education have had a profound effect on his writing and career. Being a Native American growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie has had to fight stereotypes and certain negative influences such as alcoholism and poverty his entire life. The reader can gain a better understanding of Alexie’s struggles and negative influences in his life through one of his poems, â€Å"Influences†, where he discusses the negative influences he faced with alcohol from his ownRead MoreWhat You Sell I Will Redeem By Sherman Alexi1360 Words   |  6 Pageswith in the Native American community is influenced by social class, alcoholic tendencies/behavior, and ethnic background. The author Shurman Alexie explores the issues of despair, poverty, alcoholism, and racial conflict, which pervade everyday matters of the American Indians (Hossain Sarker, 2016). In the story, What You Sell I will Redeem, by Sherman Alexi, the main character Jackson Jackson is a homeless Native American who is portrayed, that he, like many other Native Americans are alienated