Sherman Alexie's Evolution

“Evolution” by Sherman Alexie is about the Americans (whites) exploiting and using the Native American’s (Indians) addictions, such as alcoholism, to show what “power” they have over them. The poem’s theme of Native American’s (Indian’s) greed and the American’s (white's) use of “power” of others uses vivid imagery by the choice of words that are used.

The first central image in “Evolution” is the phrase “24 hours, 7 days a week,” that describes the newly pawn shop Buffalo Bill opened on the reservation across the border across from the liquor store (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Buffalo Bill, an American, took advantage of the Native American’s weakness. He knew that Native Americans would pawn anything, from materials such as jewelry, television sets, and VCRs, as well as, cultural and generation items, including body parts, to get the money for their alcohol addiction. Knowing Buffalo Bill is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Buffalo Bill would receive

Americans (white’s), primarily to blame for the Native Americans, were the first to introduce alcohol to Native Americans (Schaefer, 2017). Buffalo Bill, an American showman amongst other roles, knew that Native Americans, and used this for full advantage. He used his “power,” his ruthless nature, to attract the Native Americans. Rather than using the term Native Americans until the end of the poem, the term “Indian” implies how greedy one was to get money for their addiction to alcohol. It was after he received all their possessions, both material and sentimental, that the term Native American was used. Just as Buffalo Bill gained a profit for all of the items, he then uses their items to open a museum, charging them to see all of their possessions they pawned. The term Indian shows the irresponsibility and their shameful actions they did to fuel their