Native Americans In Blasphemy's War Dances

Almost all of his works deal with Native Americans combined with his own life, experiences, and anything he thinks the reader needs to know about Native Americans. Blasphemy is a collection of short stories and poems about Indians and his life, within the book some examples of the stories within are Scars, War Dances, Midnight Basketball, and Whatever happened to Frank Snake Church. ( Alexie, 2012) Scars is a prose about a man, Mike, who tells every story that goes along with every scar. Mike is Native American and the scars were a result of child abuse. The main character of War Dances is most likely Sherman Alexie, this prose is about a man facing the problem of going deaf and has flashbacks of visiting his father in a hospital. Within this flashback the main character becomes stereotypical when he asks a Native American for a blanket for his father. Midnight Basketball is about an old Indian named Big O who disappeared from the basketball spotlight in his younger

years to re enter the scene and beat all of the younger, more athletic boys at basketball. Whatever happened to Frank Snake Church is a prose about and Indian named Frank who was obese and going to have heart problems. One day however he had a “vision” that his father had died but it was really himself who had died in the “vision” He starts taking care of his body, but eventually becomes obsessed with becoming healthy by exercising too much and hurts himself in the process. (Alexie, Pg. 91)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is a novel that is almost like an autobiography on Sherman Alexie.

In this novel the main character, Arnold but also goes by Junior, "betrays" his reservation by going to a "white" school but he is bullied because he had a big head and a little body. Since the novel is semi-autobiographical it shows what Alexie went through as a child. He was bullied by everyone, even the adults of the reservation. Alexie widely bases his writings on race and also makes an effort to include the stereotypes that play along with each race, such as in the poem Go, Ghost, Go. Within the poem Alexie calls a white professor rich and unjust while calling Indians red men and also stating brown people will attack other people. (Alexie, Pg 21) Alexie largely bases his writings on his past, especially the parts in which he spent on the reservation. (Poetry Society) Another reason for his style of writing may be the fact that he wants his readers to know about Native American

life.
Negative stereotypes are added to the reservations as well as thoughts of Native Americans being magical. Native Americans however have embraced the "magicalness" because for generations they were thought to be disgusting and were dehumanized. Being treated so differently than what they always were was a nice change for really all Native Americans. (Alexie) Alexie might find it his responsibility for his readers to know the truths about Native Americans, for example how common despair, poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism, which he experienced personally, and self hatred really is in the Native American world, thus shaping his works to what they are today. Alexie also seems to always put at least fragments of irony or dark humor into all of his works, for which without theses tones his works would not be as personal to his readers. (Poetry Foundation)
Alexie's children influence him more than anyone else because he can hear the unfiltered versions of his opinions. Alexie learns more from his children and even children's books have impacts on him. Believe it or not Alexie's favorite childhood book was A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Alexie states the reasons why he loved it so much was the love versus the loneliness of the book. As a child he lived on a reservation and was lonely so the book stuck with him forever. The book left a long lasting impact on him and his writings. (Big Think)
Alexie also believes his writings have not changed but all of them are the same, "I'm still writing the same stuff, it's still pretty much about Spokane Indian males, stumbling through life" (Alexie) This can be somewhat proven though the fact that Alexie is male and a Spokane Indian as well, and by the fact that Slexie is his own subject for his writings.