Every Little Hurricane By Sherman Alexie Analysis

In the story “Every Little Hurricane” the author Sherman Alexie introduces the main character of a 9 year- old boy named Victor. Alexie inaugurates a cultural environment of Native Americans whom play role during 1976. The setting in the story takes place in a Spokane Indian Reservation village where Victor’s parents are hosting a New Year’s Eve family reunion. Throughout the story the author evaluates stories of Victor’s life in a metaphoric view contrasting the hurricane to express lived moments of his childhood. The author uses many forms of figurative language to abstract the readers in a critical thinking position. Towards the end the reader finds out there is no kind of hurricane in the story but metaphorically used to analyze the effects

of his life when a hurricane suddenly drops from the sky in 1976. As the character expresses his actions throughout the story we will realize nothing changed from the beginning when he was introduced towards the end. The author uses symbols and leitmotifs to express certain pains Victor experience during his childhood.
The author reflected back into Victor’s deep thoughts through the story when he watched his uncles fight. The awakening of Victor’s uncle fight opens the story with past events which Alexie uses symbols to express pain. Concluding to the opening setting violence and alcoholism are the main central themes in the story which generates a third person view. It gives the reader a closer understanding of Victor’s childhood.
In the beginning of the story the author describes the hurricane being a metaphor when Victor arose from bed “the winds increased and the first tree fell (Alexie 2)” this line from the story opens a clear description of tension between Victor’s uncle who were fighting outside the yard.

Victor recalls the fight by remembering the struggles he went through with his family. By remembering the past, the author gives the reader a sense of sympathy of Victor’s life experiences. Coming from a household that went through violence is very affecting in many ways where the individual’s physical acts or thinking mindset can change who they first where. Violence is a memory to Victor when he recalls Adolph and Arnold, his uncles, fight. He describes the memory by going outside the window “He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that had to be in love. Strangers would never want to hurt each other that badly (Alexie 2)”. I personally believe the narrator is expressing Victor’s deepest thoughts how family should not be getting into physical fights but instead showing care for each other because no stranger will get into such pain if hate is not involved or common sense towards

normality.
Alexie mentioned in the end how his father was absent for a long period of time.

During his childhood his father was an alcoholic which he had to experience has a child. In the other spectrum his mother was a hard working lady who work at a trading post to support the family. In the story Alcoholism is a big theme where the author represents his personal experience with Victor’s. The main character in the story was effected with pain where his childhood was fulfilled with abuse from the alcohol. The narrator flashbacks Victors nightmares when he “dreamed of whiskey, vodka, tequila, those fluids swallowing him just as easily as he swallowed them (Alexie 7)” the author paraphrases more metaphoric meaning towards expressing his thoughts of the alcohol abuse. For the Reservation it seemed alcohol was the normality into fixing any problem. In another scene when the fight seemingly looked over Victor smelled the whiskey and blood from his uncle which made his body hurt when it reminded him the day he went sledding. Victor having to witness the actions of alcoholism it was very affecting to him to see how drinking was the way people solved or got away from problem. Alcohol should not control someone’s behavior because in the end that person’s actions will affect the way the young abstracts life values. The authors purpose in the story is to convey a message in which alcohol is not the solution when you are facing problems.

In most stories symbols represents a significance meaning

to writing. The symbol can be found in figurative language where the reader develops a connection with the author is trying to express. In Every Little Hurricane the author portraits many meaningful symbols that characterizes his childhood relating to Victors. Alexie gives the reader an open connection to evaluate his understanding of life and tone of voice about his parents.
In the story the author incorporates wealth being a big representation in Victor’s childhood. Wealth was the The author recollects Victor memory:
One Christmas Eve when he was five, Victor’s father wept because he didn’t have any money for gifts. Oh, there was a tree trimmed with ornaments, a few bulbs from the Trading Post, one string of lights, and photographs of the family with holes punched through the top, threaded with dental floss, and hung from tiny branches. But there were no gifts. Not one (Alexie 4)”.
The author gives a sadden description of the families Christmas setting. That same day Victor observes his father overlooking at his wallet several times to believe if he actually had no money. Victor is an example to many Americans how people in general should not take life for granted but instead to be humble. The family did not have the sufficient financial needs to afford a regulatory health plan but used their background healing traditions to recover from any sickness. In more haunting nightmares Victor recalls watching his father take shots of alcohol to control pain. Furthermore, the author adds on how food was a very limited resource. Alexie mentions how in his father always wanted a soup (Alexie 7) in Victor’s dream it showed how there was no soup in mother’s kitchen restaurant. The circumstances were extremely sad the reader shows how Victor’s family lived in extreme poverty and still had a big love for his parents who were also control with alcoholism. His mother comfort their poverty situation by saying “But we’ve got each other (Alexie 4)” these words probably warmth Victor’s mindset of his reality. Alexie demonstrates how family bond is not destroyable if one keeps another in hard times. Victor never complained about his situation in life but yet accepted the true meaning of hard pain.
The last noticed symbol in the story was the hurricane that struck in the very beginning of the story. When the hurricane struck it suddenly became a depressive setting. Every encounter of the hurricane showed several obstacles Victor had to lived and overcome. The author seemed the past could bring change when “Victor wanted to know if memories of his personal hurricanes would be better if he could change them (Alexie 4)” the meaning of change would give Victor a possible outcome in his childhood. The little hurricanes Victor went through represents the changes he had to overcome as a child. Victor defeated hurricanes in difficult times which turned out to bring his family together. Victor learned life values such as responsibilities because he managed to over care for his family in difficult times instead of abandoning the chaos.
Throughout the story the author send a message of the struggles Victor had to go through in his childhood. The author implies a natural tone towards Victors parents which he shows care for his parents and did not neglected them because alcohol became an issue. The image the author gives the reader is how someone was able to survive hurricanes in specific events throughout the story. The author does not make any change towards the end of the story but gives the reader a mindset of possible hope in future since we end the story as the way we met Victor with his struggles.