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In the first line of “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Sherman Alexie writes “one day you have a home and the next you don’t” (1558). That sentence is the main idea of the whole story. Native Americans are struggling to be accepted in today’s society because the majority of them are affected by poverty. In “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Alexie writes about a homeless Spokane Indian who is trying to earn money to buy back his grandmother’s regalia from a pawn shop. The story of this homeless Spokane Indian, Jackson Jackson, correlates to a painting by D Rogale, named Homeless in Seattle. This painting shows the Seattle skyline in the background, while in the foreground it shows a person’s feet with torn and dirty socks on them. The short story by …show more content…
SAMHSA’s expert panel also put together a fact sheet about homelessness among Native Americans, they state facts such as how “behavioral health problems, disrupted families, domestic violence, and housing shortages” play a major role in homelessness (1). However, Native Americans face even more challenges such as “acculturation, traditional values at odds with modern life, racism and stereotyping, and unresolved grief from historical trauma” (1). There are many stereotypes about Native Americans. Some of those include being alcoholics, gamblers, and not being mentally stable. Jackson, the main character in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is homeless out on the streets in Seattle. He has a drinking problem, which has given him health problems, and he doesn’t spend the money that he receives wisely. This shows that the stereotypes that are associated with Native Americans are, in some cases, extremely likely to be true. Homelessness and stereotypes are the central points for this short story and it is brought up throughout and through the Homeless in Seattle painting. To coincide with those stereotypes, the SAMHSA conducted research on the health of homeless Native Americans. They have concluded that “high rates of alcohol and substance abuse, mental health disorders, suicide, violence, and behavior-related chronic diseases in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities are well documented” (7). Many of the health problems that Native Americans face are because of their own individual behavioral health problems. In other words, the way they consume alcohol causes many of their health problems. The SAMHSA has found out that for Native Americans, “the alcohol-related death rate is over five times greater than the U.S. rate for all races”
Since homeless people are not new to the United States we already have this stigma towards them along with drug users. One of the challenges that Bourgois and Schonberg have to face is practicing cultural relativism. As easy as it may be for them they must not pass judgment on the Edgewater Homeless because everything that they do is relative to the ...
“What you pawn I will redeem” is a story written by Sherman Alexie. The story takes place in Seattle, Washington and follows the homeless native american named Jackson Jackson on his journey to obtain his grandmothers regalia that was stolen 50 years ago. He finds the regalia in a pawnshop and spends the rest of the story doing many different things in attempt to make enough money so that he can purchase it back. Throughout the story the author uses Jacksons humor and like-ability to do impressive job of tricking the reader into feeling compassion for Jackson. But when you take a deeper you look into the story, it reveals that in the end Jackson is just a tricky homeless alcoholic.
Sherman Alexie writes in his story, What You Pawn I Will Redeem about a homeless Salish Indian named Jackson Jackson. Alexie takes readers on Jackson’s journey to acquire enough money to purchase back his grandmother’s stolen powwow regalia. Throughout the story, Jackson’s relationships with other charters ultimately define his own character. Alexie, a well know Native American author tells an all too common tale of poverty and substance abuse in the Native American community through his character Jackson. The major character flaw of Jackson is his kindness, which ultimately becomes his greatest asset when fate allows him to purchase back his grandmother’s powwow regalia from a pawn broker for only five dollars.
In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, Sherman Alexie uses the two most well known stereotypes of Native Americans today, that they are alcoholics and homeless. These are more modern day stereotypes but they fall under the the main stereotype, that Native Americans are helpless and uncivilized. Alexie’s short story focuses on a character named Jackson Jackson, who happens to be both homeless and an alcoholic. Jackson is walking past a pawn shop when he notices his grandmother’s regalia that was stolen from his family fifty years ago. The owner of the pawn shop gives Jackson twenty-four hours to come up with the money for the regalia. The story takes us throughout his journey which consist mostly of Jackson buying alcohol, food, and even some lottery tickets. Jackson would acquire money through a variety of situations right after getting money he ended
Poverty is a huge issue for Native Americans, an everyday trip to school is walking in the freezing cold with only a T-shirt and a ripped pair of jeans. Walking down the road you see nothing but rundown houses and a group of punks beating up a kid. Looking to the side of the road you see a man, about thirty-two years old, lying on the sidewalk surrounded by about eight empty liquor bottles. You get to school, and in the hallway there is a kid leaning up against a cold brick wall, he is pale, skinny, and he looks really sick. He is so hungry and so skinny that you can see under his rib cage. You also notice that half the teachers chose not to go to school and all the hallways are empty from lack of kids actually going to school. In my essay,
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie gives readers a look at the life of homeless, easygoing, middle aged Native American, Jackson Jackson. The story, which is set in Seattle, describes the conditions that Jackson finds himself in. Alexie’s choice of motifs emphasizes the significance of cultural and historical references. With these concepts in mind, the reader is taken through a journey of self-realization. “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” narrates the internal struggle Jackson feels trying to figure out his personal identity as a Native American.
These people, known as the Edgewater homeless, all come from different backgrounds and all have their own story. Even though the community is widely diverse, they share two commonalities: homelessness and addiction. Homelessness and addiction became the basis of their culture. Using firsthand interviews and accounts, this book illustrates the everyday struggles that the homeless population face. Schonberg and Bourgois give the oppressed an opportunity to have their voices heard. The lives of the Edgewater homeless were portrayed through characters like Frank, Sonny, Carter, and Tina. By allowing the voices of people who are actually living in the situation, such as the Edgewater homeless, a larger voice is given to the homeless community around the
Jacksons’ grandmother powwow-dance regalia is the symbol In this story. It was symbolic to the love and respect he had for his grandma and also the connection he had for his ethnic group, the Spokane Indians. The complete tale was based upon his journey to regain the only thing that connected him to those things. This journey gave him a sense of purpose even in his homeless state. In his homelessness he finds comfort, I also believe that the other homeless Indians gave him a tribal feeling. He wasn’t alone because there were many others like him. Even if it is not the traditional tribe, there is a sense of belonging, a sense of family. He is not just homeless in the physical; he’s homeless mentally because he doesn’t have tribe with him. He
In Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” alcohol plays a major role in the life of the protagonist Jackson Jackson; all through the story we can see the impact alcohol has had in his life. It's only at the end of the story that we experience a sober Jackson for the first time. In this scene Jackson experiences a sober, realistic connection to his grandmother. A real physical connection not overshadowed by alcohol. In the story Alexie’s shows us the chronological events that take place in Jackson’s mission to redeem his grandmother’s powwow regalia, and how every time he gets some money he rather squander it on alcohol. For instance already having five dollars among them and getting a twenty from the pawnshop owner instead of keeping
Alexie’s use of figurative language and using an extended metaphor (Kirszner & Mandell, 2017, pp. 576-580) of Buffalo Bill as the U.S. government and the pawn shop as the new greedy Americans, is amazingly well done. With the pawn shop as the newly settled greedy Americans, Alexie is showing that the pawn shop will always need more items to fill its shelves, like the settlers were always needing more. They needed more land for crops, more land to cut timber, more land to build homes, more wild game to feed their families, more land for more settlers, and more, and more it just kept being more. Then when there was nothing left for the Indians to give, then the settlers wanted the land they were living on, the last little piece and they did not stop until they had it.
Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” describes a homeless Indian man named Jackson Jackson, who has never lived farther than one hundred miles from where his tribe, Spokane, originated. In his current location, Seattle, people do not appreciate and respect the individualities of others. In this story, he tries to regain the powwow regalia that has been stolen from his grandmother. Alexie reveals a deep concern for the loss of traditional Native American culture through Jackson’s journey to recover the lost regalia. He presents the theme of self-identification through multiple symbols in the plot. Jackson Jackson continually tries to define himself through the stereotypes given by society, friends, and people he meets until he finally
Mary is a flat character in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. In the story she does not have an internal conflict, but she has a man versus man conflict with Jackson. Jackson Jackson sees Mary as family, but Mary doesn't see Jackson that same way. This conflict is seen when Jackson Jackson attempts to share his winning lottery ticket money with Mary, “When you win, you’re supposed to share with your family” (Alexie 18). Mary responds with, “I’m not your family” (Alexie). At the end of their minor argument in the store Mary accepted Jackson’s money, and that brought resolution to the conflict. By keeping the money she accepted Jackson’s take on what someone should do with their winnings. Mary is a stereotypical character as a store
Through Alexie’s image of Buffalo Bill as the American government and the liquor store across from the pawn shop, he clearly indicts America for the maltreatment of Native Americans. First, because of the European settlers, and the American government, the spread of alcoholism plagued Native Americans. Therefore, because of alcoholism among Native Americans, the reader can clearly see a progression taking place in what they were being deprived of. For example, he writes that they pawn items that may have only held some monetary value such as, jewelry, a VCR and television sets, then he writes that they pawned, “a full-length beaded buckskin outfit it took Inez Muse 12 years to finish” (Kirszner and Mandell, 2012, p. 524). The outfit, being a symbol of tradition and culture, would be something of sentimental value to the Native American and would represent the loss of something sacred. Second, Alexie wrote that after all their personal possessions had been pawned, cataloged and filed they began to pawn their hands, saving their thumbs for last and even pawned their skeletons which was falling from the skin. At this point, the reader understands that pawning personal items is one thing, but to pawn one’s hands, thumbs and skeletons is something totally different. Alexie is sending a powerful message to the reader, illustrating that because of the alcoholism, the Native Americans were being taken advantage of by the American government which sought to control and if possible exterminate them. Third, to really grab the reader’s attention and evoke strong feelings from them, Alexie wrote that after pawning all they had, Buffalo Bill takes their heart for twenty dollars. By taking the heart, the reader can infer that the American government not only took personal items and body parts, but they also took their dreams, their emotions and their passions. Next, Alexie sums it with the American
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie gives readers a look at the life of homeless, easygoing, middle aged Native American, Jackson Jackson. The story, which is set in Seattle, describes the conditions that Jackson finds himself in. Alexie’s choice of motifs emphasizes the significance of cultural and historical references. With these concepts in mind, the reader is taken through a journey of self-realization. “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” narrates the internal struggle Jackson feels trying to figure out his personal identity as a Native American. The story chronicles situations that illustrate the common stereotypes about Natives. Through Jackson’s humble personality, the reader can grasp his
Skye, Warren, Robert Schore, and Rachel Levenson. "Native Americans." NKI Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Mental Health. N.p., 2009. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .