Indian Killer Essay

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie is a gut-wrenching novel centered around the storyline of an unknown killer who has a strong and evident motive for kidnapping and killing people throughout the novel's progression. The people that the killer takes interest in consists of mostly white men. This deep burning fire within the killer has an extensive connection with the complexity of tension between whites and Indians, as radio host Truck Schultz states through multiple broadcasts. The novel also has another character that stands out, John Smith. Sherman's novel has two killers, John Smith and Marie Polatkin, who share very identical qualities such as an equal level of hatred towards the average white male and a strong sense of anger issues.
John

Marie Polatkin, a friend and accomplice of John's, just may be on the top of the suspect list. Judging by her actions throughout the entirety of the novel, she just loves to have arguments with the people around her. Constant arguments can give a well rounded explanation of why she has anger issues and quite possibly the motive to be a killer. One person in particular that she loves to challenge is Dr. Clarence Mather, a teacher at the University of Washington. In her multiple arguments, she attempts to inflict fear inside of Dr. Mather's head by trying to state that she's playing the role of the killer. Quotes such as “Men kill with guns. Women kill with knives.” (Alexie, 332) and “I'm pretty good with a knife.” (Alexie, 247) undoubtedly shows us an extreme parallel between Marie, killing people, and knives. Another issue mentioned in the novel is the hatred towards her skin color. The novel states “When she was nine years old, sitting on the front porch, she had rubbed her face with a piece of sandpaper, trying to get rid of the color” (Alexie, 232). This quotation makes the statement of Marie wanting to be white quite clear. This seems like she holds a very low value to the color of her skin. As the novel nears an end, Marie seems to have some comprehension of John and the Indian Killer situation. The police

Alexie uses other characters introduced in the novel to deprive the reader of having the mindset that John and Marie are the killers. Reggie Polatkin and other minor characters also have a complex yet simple motive to be the killer. Reggie is a cousin of Marie who hates white men. In Part 2 of Alexie's novel, Reggie and two of his friends hold a white man that moves from one place to another hostage on a football field. They question this white man, assuming it to be radio host Truck Schultz. The questions consisted of completely useless facts which changed every time Reggie asked the man another question. Following the questions, Reggie blames the white man and sees him as an excuse for the white race and claims that it's their fault that he ‘died’ on multiple occasions. After the realization that they have gotten a “whole different white-trash asshole” (Alexie, 259), Reggie makes a promise and soon breaks it by forcing his thumbs into the white man's eyes. His anger, best expressed by this action, implies the fact that he drives on the fear of others. Placing his trust with other people is another issue as he believes that “all white men were lying all the time” (Alexie, 138). This gives an explanation of how diminished the whites are by the actions of Indian people. The novel states that Reggie was “a half-Indian who wanted to be completely