The Meaning of the Pick-Up Truck The movie “Smoke Signals” was directed by Chris Eyre and the story line was written by Sherman Alexie, an extremely well known, and a personal favorite of mine, writer. Together and the help of many Native Americans, they created a movie following the journey of two teen Coeur D 'Alene Native American boys traveling to Arizona trying to retrieve Victor’s fathers remains. Thomas tags along with Victor while traveling from Idaho on bus and on foot. Throughout the bus ride, Victor teachers Thomas how to be a “real Indian.” Thomas, an avid storyteller, fills the trip with stories about Victors’ father. Thomas’s parents were killed in a fair when he was just a little kid, during the movie you are led to believe …show more content…
As a young kid, Victor looked up to his father but also had problems with his father. While he loved his dad, Arnold could be abusive to both Victor and Victor’s mother. One scene in the movie, Arnold asks Victor to give him a drink from the cooler, Victor drops the drink and it spills all over the floor of the truck. Arnold in some ways yells at Victor and slaps/ hits Victor in the face for dropping the drink. Also throughout young Victors life, you can see his father and mother losing themselves to alcohol, and to take out his anger, young Victor goes outside and starts throwing thing at something his dad loves and the thing that he experiences pain in, the dads pick-up truck. Victor lets his anger go during the night while his parents are passed out from all the drinking they did at the party earlier that night. I think that during that moment, Victor wanted to show how tough he was but also that he was tired of seeing his parents drink and not being themselves. I think that the pick-up truck during that time represents Victor trying to stand up to his dad while showing that he could be tough too. During Victor’s anger, his mother wakes up to the sound of something hitting the pick-up truck. Walking to the window she sees her sound of Victor angrily throwing rocks against the back of the truck. In that moment, his mother decides to stop drinking to make …show more content…
She was close to Arnold during his time where he left his family. Arnold and Suzy became close and Arnold would tell stories about Victor and other stories in general. During a flashback from Suzy, Arnolds pick-up truck wasn’t starting up. He claims that it usually doesn’t have that problem, but Suzy doesn’t mind. Personally, I think at this moment it shows he is no longer running away, but in a sense still isn’t where he belongs. After the flashback ends, Suzy tells Victor to go to the trailer that he lived in and that’s when Victor changes, but he also realizes that his father never meant to leave, whether that was mentally or
...or was not thinking of others in his actions, but only of himself. He did not consider the tumult the abnormally large creature could cause in the world, nor what the feelings of the monster would be towards him if he abandoned him. Victor also did not contemplate the safety of his friends, as he had the chance to stop the creature’s misdoings but failed to do so, risking the life of his friends. Therefore, Victor was a selfish being, who only concerned himself with his wishes and never evaluated the situation of his loved ones, ultimately causing their demise. The misfortunate events that occurred through Victor’s life could have been prevented, and also discontinued when Victor had the chance. However, Victor’s irresponsibility overcame these opportunities and he in turn, caused misfortunes for himself as well as his loved ones.
Growing up, Victor and Thomas didn’t get a long so well. Thomas was often annoying and Victor just wanted to be left alone. Thomas often talked of Arnold and Victor never wanted to talk about his deserted father. The last thing that Victor wanted to do was talk about the father that bailed on...
People mistake the Indian culture for living in T-Ps and going to powwows and always being drunk. But Smoke Signals really shows how the Indian culture really is. It includes how their culture is different from the white man but the stereo types that people put out for Indians are really inaccurate. Victor and Thomas not only take us on this interesting adventure to see his dad but they show us all of the Indian stereo types.
The story “Smoke Signal” written by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre, published on June 26, 1998, is about the relationship between father and son and search for forgiveness through the reflection of the Native American culture. Sherman Alexie is a Native American poet and filmmaker and was born on a Reservation at Wellpinit, Washington. The story reflects Sherman’s childhood by showing how he was growing up in a reservation and his beliefs as a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene tribal member. The main idea of the film is that forgiveness is find through a journey. Sherman Alexie use metaphors and allusion with words such as fire and smoke, Sherman use this figure of speech to show and set in motion flashbacks throughout the story where it expresses
Sometimes, an alcoholic can be abusive. In Arnold Josephs case, it is nonetheless. When Arnold realizes that he accidentally starts a fire that kills Thomas’s parents, alcoholism seems as the only thing in which he can turn to and try to resolve his problems. After a few years, Arnold’s alcoholism takes a toll on the household. Victor’s attitude toward alcohol is greatly affected as he sees what it did to his father. Arnold eventually left the reservation due to him not being able to manage his emotions. Even though it may seem that Arnold was being selfish, in reality, it was quite the opposite. Arnold saves the two by not submitting them to a life of fear by leaving town. In the end, alcohol rescues Victor from living in fear.
He was contemplating trying out for the basketball team but is not sure he can cut it. His coach made him do some drills and he saw potential in him. The coach said that he was the best shooter he has ever seen and ends up making varsity. Victor plays basketball to escape the real world and to relax himself. He usually played it with his father and that was their special bonding moment between them. The difference in the book and the movie is that basketball is a huge impact on Arnold life not so much of Victor. The reason being is that Victor doesn't really play that much because his father left him and he only at the community center with his
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
Victor grows up in school both on the American Indian Reservation, then later in the farm town junior high. He faces serious discrimination at both of these schools, due to his Native American background. This is made clear in both of the schools by the way the other students treat him as well as how his teachers treat him. His classmates would steal his glasses, trip him, call him names, fight him, and many other forms of bullying. His teachers also bullied him verbally. One of his teachers gave him a spelling test and because he aced it, she made him swallow the test. When Victor was at a high school dance and he passed out on the ground. His teacher approached him and the first thing he asked was, “What’s that boy been drinking? ...
Victor’s response shows his hate to his father, which makes his father angry, and Arnold keeps drinking. On the next day, Victor was smashing the beer bottles onto his truck, alluding to the hatred the young man felt towards his father. That action leads his father to leave the Coeur d’Alene leaving behind young Victor and his mom.
Smoke Signals, directed by and starring Native people, ushered in the golden age of Aboriginal cinema. The story was not about what occurred one hundred years ago but about current-day “nativeness,” where there are no stereotypes and no stoic Indians.
Cobbs states “Thomas…. is a story teller… he was really the vehicle, he’s the natural character in order to make a movie (pg224). Thomas story telling is one of the things that made the movie more relatable to its audience. The only thing that made me wonder was if the stories were actually true or was it just Thomas making up stories to entertain his audience. When Thomas was telling a story to Victors fathers neighbor in Phoenix, victor claims that his story was false. Smoke signals is also an act of sovereignty given the fact that this was the first major film directed, acted and written by Native Americans themselves. It gave the Indian audience a sense of hope and joy being that this was not a film that negatively depicted them or had Indians as the bad guys. Also in the film, there was a scene that humorously referenced one of the movies that portrayed Indians negatively, which was when Thomas and victor were on the bus singing about John
In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix Arizona”, Victor has become psychologically troubled because he has put his own traditions behind. Throughout the story, the readers find out that Victor has an internal conflict due to the unhealthy relationships in his life. His father abandons him at a very young age, which causes Victor’s loss of guidance and self-identity. The day that Victor’s father abandons his family, Victor gets “really drunk and beat[s] Thomas up for no apparent reason at all”(276). If no one would have stopped Victor, Thomas-build-the-fire would have died which clearly shows the readers that Victor is mentally troubled. Not only does he lose his father but, Victor also loses his best friend on that same day. In other words, Victor is mentally traumatized after the abandonment. In fact, Rothe Eugenio, a professor in the department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at Florida Inter...
Victor’s father left his family because according to Thomas, “when they were seven years old, when Victor’s father still lived with the family, Thomas closed his eyes and told Victor this story: your father’s heart is weak. He is afraid of his own family, he is afraid of you. Late at night he sits in the dark. Watches the television until there’s nothing but white noise. Sometimes he feels like he wants to buy a motorcycle and ride away. He wants to run and hide. He doesn’t want to be found” (512). When Victor’s father left, he never truly forgave him. Readers know that because of the details told at the beginning of the story and through the quote that was used in the second paragraph. Although he felt some resentment towards his father, he still felt obligated to bring him back to the reservation. That is where the theme of family comes into the story. Victor’s father died in his hot trailer and was not found for at least a week. Victor knew the trailer his father was staying had to have smelt ripe. But he did not care, as explained in the story, he says,“but there might be something valuable in there and I was talking about pictures and letters and stuff like that” (515). The trip that Victor made to Phoenix was a family journey. That long trip had taught Victor about himself and most importantly about his father. The grief that was bottled up inside was finally being put to rest now
Throughout the book, Victor shows signs of mental problems and obsession because of the death of his mother, his departure to Ingolstadt, and his seclusion. Before his mother's death, Victor views the study of science as a "possessed attraction" for himself. After Caroline's death, Victor views science as the true route to knowledge and found it as a supernatural addiction. His studies at Ingolstadt lead Victor toward a goal of finding himself, which has him yearning to find the secret of how the body transitions from "life to death, and death to life”. This year is turning into an obsession on con...
This challenge which brewed deep within Victor makes him forget about his own life and leads him into isolation and a complete concentration on project. Blinded by his quest, Victor is unable to measure the consequences of what he is trying to do. Victor returns home feeling frustrated and feeling as though all his hard work had ended in the utmost failure. In addition, Victor feels guilty, realizing that his creation is the cause of his little brother’s death. During this time, he also encounters that an innocent victim, Justine, is sentenced and condemned, a person of great significance, someone like a sister, to the love of his life, Elizabeth. In analyzing the following paragraph, the reader is able to see the difficulty that Victor has in expressing his emotions.