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

Smith, an Indian male, is the main character who is diagnosed with a state of paranoia very early on in the story. Information like this is very critical to the definition of John’s personality and it becomes highly developed as time goes on. The quote “John saw sparks. Sparks. Sparks.” (Alexie, 25) is an example of the usage of imagery to describe what only John himself can see: this is one of his many illnesses. He also has insomnia, the inability to sleep like normal, and the fear that every single person around him is an enemy and that they are thinking bad thoughts about him, which strongly shows his paranoia. The killer, in resemblance to John, doesn't sleep at night because that's when the attacks take place. A very symbolic object mentioned in the novel is an owl. The picture of two feathers on the cover of the book is the mark that the killer leaves to leave the town of Seattle in some state of fear. The book itself sees this owl as a messenger of death or death alone, but there's another hidden meaning that has relations to the killer. The link established between the killer and owl, nonetheless, is symbolic as owls are nocturnal and take action at night, which is the killer's time to attack. Overall, this is all part of his main point of getting back at the whites for everything that had consequently been ruined by the Indians.
Through John's eyes, Alexie states that John sees the white male race as multiple vulnerable targets who are just waiting to be destroyed. He also hates the white men as they were the ones who took him from his Indian mother and his reservation. The novel mentions the saying “We are what we have lost” (Alex Kuo). This quotation is the well-rounded definition of who and what John can and may be. He lost his heritage when the whites took him from his original home and something within just wants to get that back in any way. While trying to find out who he truly is, he takes any and all memories, and moreover, attempts to imagine the life he would have had, should he have stayed with his mother on the reservation. One thing that stands in his way are white men, and it just ignites an unending fire inside.
John couldn't have been alone on this the whole time, however, given the circumstances of his mental illness, he may have told anyone that he was the Indian Killer.

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

reveal the killer to be John but Marie gets the feeling that they are lying to cover up the truth. She takes action and deflects the accusations and instead blames other people that she knows such as Jack Wilson.
Several pieces of textual evidence can disprove the fact that John and Marie are the killers and show that there are other people.

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

white, or failing that, to earn the respect of white men” (Alexie, 136). The irony is tangible within this quote because Alexie gave Reggie the reputation to hate white people.
Unfortunately, these pieces of evidence are wrong because Reggie Polatkin does not have the mentality to be the killer, even if he shares the same heritage as Marie. The evidence cited strongly suggests that John and Marie, without a doubt, are the killers. The deep relation of anger of white men is obvious and shows the ties between the thought of Marie and John being behind the knife. Alexie’s novel has two killers, John Smith and Marie Polatkin, who share an equal level of hatred towards the average white male and a strong but compelling sense of anger issues.