Victor In This Is What It Mean To Say Phoenix Arizona

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Where a person grows up and lives are so much more than just a place. It is the people and objects around you. A community which more so than anything else dictates who they are. Why they hate, love, fear, and who they aspire to be. Culture influences and societal pressures mold adolescents into adulthood, and the person they will be. In “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Sherman Alexie’s protagonist Victor is no different. Victor’s outlook on life is heavily influenced by his Indian culture, the condition of the reservation, and the people he has met that have left a lasting impression. The massacre of the Indian population by the founding fathers of this country has had a lasting impact on the Indian culture that Victor and …show more content…

Victor remembers a time when he was fifteen and had gotten into a drunken brawl with Thomas. Victor would not have stopped the beating if not confronted by Norma Many Horses. Out of respect and fear for Norma, who is like the warriors of old, the warriors Victor holds in such regard and aspires to himself, so Victor ceased his assault of Thomas (4). Norma’s presence is a reminder to Victor that the old way is not completely dead and Victor may still be powerful as he dreamed so many years earlier. No other character effects Victor's personality more so than Thomas. However, unlike Norma, Thomas parallels Victor revealing to Victor that he has strayed so far from his cultural heritage. Thomas is the modern embodiment of their Indian ancestors. A storyteller, but with no one to tells his stories to (2). Victor and the rest of the community treat Thomas as an outsider, even though Thomas is more like the prideful Indians from years past. In days past the community would have gathered around to hear these grand tales, but those weighed down by the burdens of reality have no time for tales. Traveling to Phoenix and back together Thomas’ influence creates feelings of guilt in Victor, that the sense of community does not exist (11). Thomas helps Victor realize that any sense of Indian pride has died on his reservation and the only thing he really shares with these people is “a bottle and broken dreams” (11). Hope, great dreams, and aspirations were once held by Victor as a child, but over the years those were destroyed by poverty, abandonment, and a trip to Phoenix,

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