Analysis of Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven' and 'Smoke Signals' Sherman Alexie based on some short stories included in his book, 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,' wrote the screenplay for the movie 'Smoke Signals.' Both the movie and the book portray problems that Indians had to deal with, and how they dealt with it. The book is far more complex than the movie, showing a wider variation of characters facing different situations. In the movie there is Victor, the main character, which tries to be the typical Indian, or maybe just a typical man. He shows just hate towards his father, who left Victor and his mother alone and fled to Phoenix. The picture Victor has about his father is that he was an alcoholic and always tried to talk with his fists. On the other hand there is Thomas, the other main character. He lives a mystical life and is far more emotional than Victor. Thomas has also another point of view about Victor?s father. He remembered him as a nice guy, who took him to Denny?s once. When Victor?s father died, Thomas offered money to help Victor to get to Phoenix and get his father?s ashes and belongings, as long as he could go with Victor. On this part of the movie, it is easy to understand how Victor sees the Indians before the whites. On the bus, he tells Thomas that the only way that white people would respect them is by being serious; showing no feelings, not even a smile, being ...
Throughout the film of Smoke Signals, the story centers on two characters, Thomas and Victor. Thomas, through his storytelling shows Victor that there's more to life than cynicism and pure anger, while Victor let's Thomas know what it means to be a real Indian. We can see this in the scene where Victor tells Thomas that Indians are not supposed to smile to white people and that Indians always should look mean in order to gain the respect of white folks. However, we can see that after they return to the bus their seats have been taken by two white men and neither did Victor’s mean face and faded smile help him gain their seats back. This scene shows us that those stereotypes about how what an Indian is supposed to act are not in fact true because
Victor uses specific details of a hurricane to describe the rising tension during his parents’ party. “The two Indian raged across the room at each other. One was tall and heavy, the other was short, muscular. High-pressure and low-pressure fronts.” (2) Victor then goes on to compare curses to wood breaking and describes his father’s voice “…coming quickly and with force. It shook the walls of the house.” (2) As the storm escalated Victor depicts everyone who had begun to watch as simply as bystanders. “”They’re going to kill each other,” somebody yelled from an upstairs window. Nobody disagreed and nobody moved to change the situation. Witnesses. They were all witnesses and nothing more. For hundreds of years, Indians were witnesses to crimes of an epic scale.” (3) With this quote, he demonstrates a comparison between Native American experiences now and their painful history. “Victor’s uncles were in the midst of a misdemeanor that would remain one even if somebody was to die. One Indian killing another did not create a special kind of storm. This little kind of hurricane was generic. It didn’t even deserve a name.” (3) Here Alexie gives insight into how Victor
He made the decision because education was limited at the Reservation and he wanted more for himself. It was in seventh grade where he leaned out the window and he first kissed a white girl for the first time and the rest of the Indian kids who stayed on the reservation gave him a hard time for being with a white girl. It is not until he goes to the eighth grade at the small town junior high school where he experiences a moment of culture shock when he sees most white girls are anorexic and bulimic. At a school dance after a basketball game Victor passes out during a slow song and the teachers assume he has been drinking because he is an Indian, when then later diagnosed to have diabetes. Victor plays basketball on the high school team and even though they are called the Indians he figures he is the only Indian to ever step foot in the gym. In tenth grade Victor passed the writing test for his driver’s license with flying colors but barely squeezed by on the driving section. He graduates as the valedictorian of the high school and watches as his former Indian classmates from the reservation high school cannot read, some are getting attendance diplomas and Victor realizes that he made the right choice and bettering himself for the future. When talked about having a class reunion Victor states, “Why should we organize a reservation high school reunion? My graduating class has a reunion every weekend at the Powwow Tavern.” (Alexie
Victor wasn’t anything like Thomas, Victor was a warrior, and Thomas was the brain. They were almost the perfect match, because you have Brain and Braun working together. Though Victor had a soft spot for some people like his mom or Suzy Sunshine, but for anyone else he had no sympathy. Victor was always a very stern man he always had this grumpy boldfaced look. The reason he always had this look on his face was simply because he wanted to send a message out that no one will overlook him or over power him. And he said “Without a stern look the white man will run over you then no one will respect you”. Another thing that makes him a warrior is the fact that this ...
The film Smoke Signals, screen written by Sherman Alexie, examines the small, ordinary Native American life of a boy that lives on the Coeur d’Alene Indian reservation with family problems. The story is set in 1998 but also has flashbacks throughout the lives of Thomas Builds-the-Fire and Victor Joseph. Both Victor and Thomas must go on a trip to take care of Victor’s father’s business since he has passed away. Victor and Thomas both must be saved from situations throughout the film. In the film, the theme of salvation preserves both Victor and Thomas from death and conserve Victor from living a life of hatred toward his father and others around him, which allows him to understand why his life is filled with pain due to his father’s actions.
In the movie we see a native American man giving a man a woman and
Culture has the power and ability to give someone spiritual and emotional distinction which shapes one's identity. Without culture society would be less and less diverse. Culture is what gives this earth warmth and color that expands across miles and miles. The author of “The School Days of an Indian Girl”, Zitkala Sa, incorporates the ideals of her Native American culture into her writing. Similarly, Sherman Alexie sheds light onto the hardships he struggled through growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in a chapter titled “Indian Education”. While both Zitkala Sa and Sherman Alexie were Native Americans, and take on a similar persona showcasing their native culture in their text, the two diverge in the situations that they face. Zitkala Sa’s writing takes on a more timid shade as she is incorporated into the “white” culture, whereas Alexie more boldly and willingly immerses himself into the culture of the white man. One must leave something in order to realize how
Victor sees the Indians continuously drink alcohol to mask the emotions and the hard ships they have to endure. Victors’ father would drink vodka on a daily basis. The alcohol is like “a wall of water, a reservation tsunami. Maybe it was like Hiroshima or Nagasaki” (Alexie 6). Victor watched as the alcoholism descend over the Natives at their New Year’s Eve party. While Victor laid in bed restless, he felt as though he was being smothered by the depression as everyone continued drinking. He crawled out of his bed on a search to find his parents. He cried while asking people where his parents were until he found them passed out in their bedroom. Kissing them goodnight he could taste the alcohol and cigarettes on their skin and wondered if he laid there long enough, would he get drunk as well and be able to fall asleep.
The narrator from The Toughest Indian in the World starts off my withholding his struggles with self- identification. Only to then have it exposed in a defining moment when he asks the fighter to stay the night with him. The repercussions of his overnight visit with the fighter serve as an unfamiliar course of action. Initially the narrator reserves many of his natural inclinations as a sign of struggle with his self- identity. This can be demonstrated through “I almost protested, but decided against it.” (p.37) This quote demonstrates the internal struggle the narrator is feeling. He is unsure as his stance with the fighter and doesn’t voice his true feelings. This can be further illustrated by “I wanted to tell him how much I cared about my job… I wanted to tell the fighter that I picked up all Indian hitchhikers… I wanted to tell him that the night sky was a graveyard… I wanted to know if he was the toughest Indian in the world.” (p.38) This quotes illuminates how many feelings and emotions the narrator is suppressing. The repetition of the phrase “I wanted” proves the narrators true intentions, but he does not express them verbally. The narrator is internalizing his true thoughts as a coping mechanize to deal with his wavering identity. The narrator is unsure how to relate to the fighter who is so immersed in the traditional Indian culture, so he remains more reserved. Just like Bernard from Brave New World the narrator copes with his lack of homogeneous cultural characteristics but bottling everything
...as made of different people, so he had different personalities, and therefore could not be expected to act as a normal person. Upon his creation, he was left not receiving the protection and guidance he desperately needed. His feelings were the same as any other humans: grief, and distress, anger. But, instead of calmly diffusing his anger, he chose to destroy that which made his “enemy” happy. There was never a good reason to bring the dead to life, despite all of Victor’s claims. Because of his arrogance, and lack of a functioning human heart, he disregarded everyone’s opinions and advice and sought to do what was right for himself and not even attempting to protect his family, regardless of how he claimed he did. His incompetence cost his entire family’s life, but fortunately, saved that of Walton and his crew mates. So, at least, he did one good.
Thomas is a hero because the second is that he follows the hero’s journey like ordeal, Death, and Rebirth. The elevator comes back up with a girl and some pipes filled with something and the girl makes Thomas remember more about himself. Later on, they use the needle on Alby and it heals him but he won't speak. Then later on, when its night, the doors don’t close and the grievers start coming and killing people. This is a wake-up call for Thomas that and some people else since Alby is dead by the grievers. Thomas takes the lead to get out of the maze and some people follow him like a leader. When Thomas says something to the people that are left in the glade it sparks something a leadership role for Thomas. “We can't stay here forever.” When Thomas says this to the glade the people are deciding is it ok to break the rules that they have followed for years and go into the maze to try and find a way out with Thomas leading them. In This Ordeal, Death and Rebirth people die yes but Thomas did become more of a leader of the effects that played
Thunderheart is a movie inspired by the sad realities of various Native American reservations in the 1970’s. This is the story of a Sioux tribe, conquered in their own land, on a reservation in South Dakota. Thunderheart is partly an investigation of the murder of Leo Fast Elk and also, the heroic journey of Ray Levoi. Ray is an F.B.I. agent with a Sioux background, sent by his superior Frank Coutelle to this reservation to diffuse tension and chaos amongst the locals and solve the murder mystery. At the reservation, Ray embarks on his heroic journey to redeem this ‘wasteland’ and at the same time, discovers his own identity and his place in the greater society. Certain scenes of the movie mark the significant stages of Ray’s heroic journey. His journey to the wasteland, the shooting of Maggie Eagle Bear’s son, Ray’s spiritual vision, and his recognition as the reincarnation of “Thunderheart,” signify his progression as a hero and allow him to acculturate his native spirituality and cultural identity as a Sioux.
Sherman Alexie's literature often uses symbolic features relating to Native American culture. His characters tell their stories while Alexie tells his own story simultaneously. His 1993 short story, This is What It Means to Say Pheonix Arizona and later film adaption Smoke Signals focuses on two young native American men, Victor and Thomas on a journey to collect Victor's father's ashes. Throughout the journey, Victor reflects on previous events that relate to the death of his abusive father. Fire and Ash continually show up throughout the story; it can be seen through Victor's anger, actual fires and even symbolic fires. Although different,
A very important scene that exemplifies this is the scene on the bus when Victor teaches Thomas how to be a real Indian. The movie uses frybread as the symbol to represent the desire to fulfill the stereotype because Thomas is wearing the “Frybread Power” shirt when he lets his hair down. They feel the need to act this way because they have only lived on the reservation and do not know anything different. In the movie the viewer is given the impression that the Indians on the reservation fear the outside world. One of the girls they run into on the reservation even says that even though they are still in the United States it is like they are going to a foreign land. As the movie progresses, Victor and Thomas move away from the stereotype. Victor cuts his hair, even though earlier in the film he states that an Indian’s strength is his hair. Thomas goes back to braiding his hair and wearing a suit. This represents the change in culture of Native Americans since the colonialism era. Another scene in the movie that shows change in society is when Victor and Thomas are in the sheriff’s office after the car accident. They think that they are going to be in trouble for simply “being Indian”. Victor and Thomas end up getting off without being in any trouble because there is no actual evidence against
In “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Alexie creates a story that captures the common stereotypes of Native Americans. For instance, in the story the narrator states, “Who does have money on a reservation, except the cigarette and fireworks salespeople?” (Alexie). This quotation shows that the narrator addresses the idea that all Native Americans must own businesses that sell fireworks and/ or cigarettes in order to be successful. In this example, Victor is shown to not identify with the Native Americans because he does not pursue the same job opportunities as many Native Americans do. Victor's character is used as a contrast to the stereotypes that , there he represents reality. Another instance in which the author incorporates a stereotype about Native Americans is when Thomas-Builds-the-Fire first makes conversation with Victor. Thomas-Builds-the-Fire informs Victor about the news of Victor's ...