Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven Analysis

In this letter, I aim to convince you that The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is an essential book for high school students to read. As you may know, this book is often debated to be suitable or unsuitable for usage in the classroom due to its common usage of profanity, and lack of complex words. However, the writer’s skillful depictions of relationships between people throughout the book is a great source of information for young writers on how to depict relationships in realistic terms.

Profanity can be seen throughout the book, and is a possible deterrent to young readers. However, this use of profanity is purposeful, not consequential, and is an intrinsic part of the author’s writing style and how he builds character in each

Perhaps most forefront is the way Sherman Alexie depicts many types of relationships in his book. One significant one is the theme of love/hate that is played out in many characters throughout the book. For example, in the story “Every Little Hurricane”, Alexie describes how two uncles of the main character Victor fight during a party: “The two Indians raged across the room at each other. One was tall and heavy, the other was short, muscular. High-pressure and low-pressure fronts.” (2) In addition to introducing the fight scene between the two Indians, Alexie compares the fight to the creation of a storm by saying “High-pressure and low-pressure fronts”. Then, Alexie introduces the love part of the uncle’s relationship when the main character says, ““He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love. Strangers would never want to hurt each other that badly.” (2). Here, Alexie makes the relationship between the uncles even more complex by revealing that there is still some brotherly love between the two. This shows Alexie’s ability to craft realistic relationships, since relationships are often not just one sided. By reading his book, students can learn from Alexie how to create relationships beyond bad or good in their own

In the beginning of the story, he skillfully describes how Aunt Nezzy endures the jokes and insults her husband and son constantly makes in her marriage: “”Stop it, you two, “ she yelled. “Haven’t you got any sense left?” “Calm down,” my uncle said. “We’re only teasing you.” “You’re just a couple of ungrateful shits,” my aunt said. “where would you be if I didn’t cook, if my fry bread didn’t fill your stomachs every damn night?”” (77). Instead of blatantly having the husband and wife express their anger towards each other, Alexie reveals complex parts of the marriage in this passage – the husband and son often make fun of the wife, while the wife seems to be the person that supports the whole family from the ground up. Later in the story, Alexie then illustrates the wife’s decision: “She walked into the house, didn’t say a word to her stunned husband and son, and pulled that heaviest of beaded dresses over her head. Her knees buckled and she almost fell from the weight; then she did fall…She stood, weakly. But she had the strength to take the first step, then another quick one. She heard drums. She heard singing, she danced” (82). Here, the author describes the wife wearing the dress as a way to describe her becoming stronger in her marriage. While collapsing due to the heavy weight of the dress, she finds strength to stand up and even start dancing. In both of these quotes