This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona Character Analysis

506 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reflection on indian literature

The character Thomas from “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” uses his stories, his money, knowledge, and understanding as he tries to help his friend, Victor, with his father’s death. Thomas is a indian who enjoys telling his stories to everyone. When he hears that his Victor’s father died, he goes to the trading post, where his Victor was heading.The birds, the wind, the sunlight told Thomas that his Victor’s father had died, and he happened to see his Victor’s mom mourning at the trading post.Throughout the rest of the story, Thomas pursue to help Victor get to Phoenix to get his father’s ashes, and his father’s valuable possessions. However, Thomas's stories and kindness allows him to help Victor and Victor’s situation with …show more content…

For an example, when Thomas walked through the corridors of the tribal school by himself, Nobody wanted to be anywhere near him because he would tell story after story. “We are all given one thing by which our lives are measured, one determination. Mine are stories which can or can’t change the world,” said Thomas. Many people didn’t like Thomas because he would tell the same stories, but he is determined to do whatever it takes to help people and change the world. Furthermore, Thomas helped Victor with the money in order to travel to Phoenix. When they arrived to Phoenix, they began to get Victor’s dad ashes, and valuable items. As they the begin to head back, Thomas tells Victor about a dream he had. “I remember when I had this dream that told me to go to Spokane, to stand by the Falls in the middle of the city of the city and wait for a sign. Then your dad came to me and asked me what I was doing there. I told him I was waiting for a vision. He took me to Denny’s and bought me dinner. I thought my dreams were lying to me, so I was mad. But it didn’t, it gave me my vision. Take care of each other,” said Thomas. His story informs Thomas to take care of Victor. He believes his dream was telling him that Victor’s dad wants Thomas to take care of

Show More
Related

  • Deviance In Society: Wideman's Our Time

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.

    Read More

  • Book Review of The Storytelling Animal

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    .... But if you flip to a few chapters later, we see a whole chapter on ‘Night Stories’, or dreams. Gottschall builds up the ideas that are essential to the understanding of dreams as stories in the few chapters in between. “In our dreams…we commit atrocities; we suffer tragedies….,” a statement from “Night Stories” that is seemingly unrelated to the book as a whole, unless we reflect on the idea from the previous chapter Gottschall talks of how humans are addicted to bad endings. When we look for connections between these of the topics, we can see that they are intertwined. Upon reflecting on the book as a whole after reading and rereading Gottschall’s writing, I begun to see this complex structure of topics he has woven together. All of the topics in this structure work together to deepen the reader’s understanding of the storytelling animal and what it’s all about.

    Read More

  • Intertwining Fates as a Motive for Invisibility in Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... his leadership for a change, which makes his fate intertwined with theirs. Their own fates are based on the outcome of his speeches. In the case of women the narrator becomes intimate with; he submits to their desires and succumbs to their ideas of him. The narrator’s fate in the novel is always dependent on the actions or ideas of others.

    Read More

  • Phoenix's Determination

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eudora Welty establishes “The Worn Path” in the midst of the twentieth century – in an era where African Americans were not considered as equal to white Americans. Welty tells the story of Phoenix Jackson, an elderly African-American woman, who makes a lengthy voyage into town to get medication for her chronically ill grandson. For most people the journey from the countryside to a town in a city, would not be very difficult. However, the fact that old infirm Phoenix is faced with hindrances and some racist attitudes of people she encounters along the journey; she endeavors onward despite frequent hindrances in her path that include her own deteriorating health and the grandchild’s slim chance of subsistence.

    Read More

  • The Journey Through Adversity In The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the book the author implies that through persevering through adversity, following omens, and overcoming one's fears, everyone has a chance to achieve their dreams.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Boat By Alistair Macleod

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Smoke Signals

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sherman Alexie's literature often uses symbolic features relating to Native American culture. His characters tell their stories while Alexie tells his own story simultaneously. His 1993 short story, This is What It Means to Say Pheonix Arizona and later film adaption Smoke Signals focuses on two young native American men, Victor and Thomas on a journey to collect Victor's father's ashes. Throughout the journey, Victor reflects on previous events that relate to the death of his abusive father. Fire and Ash continually show up throughout the story; it can be seen through Victor's anger, actual fires and even symbolic fires. Although different,

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Dream Vs Reality Essay

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lennie dreamed about tending the rabbits on the farm with George, but Lennie doesn’t have a chance to do that anymore. Curly’s wife wanted to be an actress in Hollywood for a show, but she never got the call that she’s in. Crooks never got to be a free slave. But this story at least talked about the characters trying to reach those dreams, which shows they have dignity and pride within themselves. But in reality, dreams are something we stride for, dreams will never be perfectly perfect nor perfectly

    Read More

  • The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human Analysis

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    We are shaped by stories because we learn through “mythistory” which is history mixed with mythological stories to help learn about our past and ourselves since the beginning of the storytelling times (125). Therefore, storytelling has been a part of human society since the beginning of time. Humans are creatures of habit and that means they will continue to tell and live through stories because that is what they know. Gottschall eloquently states this idea throughout the novel by reiterating that humans learn from the stories told by the ancestors. Furthermore, that is why we continue to tell stories because the more we can relate to the topic at the hand the more willing a person is to continue to work towards the goal or dream. Additionally, it one can relate to the topic several others can at the same time, because whether it be reading, music, or film people everywhere are watching therefore they are connecting (137). Human instinct is to connect to on other; that attribute comes from years of stories telling children about how they are only as strong as the group they are with. Our lives are shaped by stories because our lives are about being connected to one other around the world because if one is not connect then one is not important to the world they think. Therefore, as previously mentioned stories are a

    Read More

  • Welty’s A Worn Path: The Strength of Love

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are also mental obstacles that obstruct Phoenix’s journey.  She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue.  As she is walking her mind plays tricks on her, such as the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure that she is frightened of.  Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods.  She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of her.  The love that one person gives to another is never truly appreciated until the recipient realizes what that person has actually done.  The grandson may be too ill or even too young to realize what his grandmother is doing for his safety.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of Sherman J. Alexie’s This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    In life, everyone experiences a time of hardship, and for the most part, those affected find methods of overcoming the adversity. The idea of getting through hardship is best reflected in; Sherman J. Alexie’s story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (274). In the story, victor whose father had recently died from a heart attack has to travel to phoenix Arizona to reclaim his father’s ashes and his truck. Victor is joined by his former childhood friend “Thomas Builds-the-fire”, who finances the trip to phoenix since Victor did not have the means. They drove back truck from phoenix to the reservation. Throughout the trip, Thomas is always telling stories mostly reminiscing about their childhood. It is through Thomas stories that we learn much about Victor’s father. Through the use of symbolism, and character development, Alexie conveys the idea that, when someone is experiencing an adversity, reconnecting and embracing the past may lead to a discovery of a brighter future.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Pursuit Of Knowledge Analysis

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... show the reader that people in the world customarily really do not change. Victor contradicting himself leads Walton to understanding that his pursuit of knowledge may cause the deaths of his crew who have family and friends.

    Read More

  • The Usefulness of Structuralism as an Analytical Tool for Uncovering How Meaning is Generated in The Wizard of Oz

    1920 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the simplest form, there is a basic structural pattern to narratives, as expressed through Tzvetan Todorov’s explanation of narrative movement between two equilibriums. A narrative begins in a stable position until something causes disequilibrium, however, by the end of the story, the equilibrium is re-established, though it is different than the beginning (O’Shaughnessy 1999: 268). Joseph Cam...

    Read More

  • The Glass Menagerie Abandonment Essay

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    Williams uses Tom’s thoughts to illustrate how Tom feels about abandoning his family. He justifies it by expressing his emotions towards his father and how he doesn’t really blame him for leaving. Abandonment is a means of escaping Tom’s problems with his mother.

    Read More

  • What Is Narrative Therapy?

    1766 Words  | 4 Pages

    Narrative therapy (NT) is a therapeutic technique that guides the client through a process of identifying and deconstructing the narratives they hold true, and reconstructing or re-authoring (Epston & White, 1990) new and empowering narratives. It is based on the idea that people understand their lives through their narration of lived experience (DiLollo, Neimeyer & Manning, 2002). “As narrators, the significance of our lives is dictated by the stories that we live and that we tell — that is, by the ways that we link events in meaningful sequences and thereby constitute a sense of self as the protagonist of our own autobiography” (Neimeyer, 1995). Narrative therapists tend to look for metaphors that have powerful connotations in a person’s

    Read More

More about This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona Character Analysis

Open Document