Slow Dancing with Skeletons

What role do memories serve? How do a person’s dreams influence the decisions he must make in life? What are in the messages that people receive from their inner voices? In “Slow Dancing with Skeletons,” Jerome Denuccio writes that one of Sherman Alexie’s characters, Thomas Builds-the-Fire observes, “Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you… these skeletons are made up of memories, dreams and voices.” (280). This passage interpreted could allude to the fact that a person’s dreams and memories will always be there for him, whether times are good or bad. These skeletons become a part of the human trinity, and unable to be extracted from considerations and decisions made with each step taken. Additionally, Alexie is saying that what happens in the past ultimately stays in the past; there is no altering what has already occurred. The use of memories, dreams, and voices are intricate and influential in allowing readers to understand the minds and motives of Alexie’s dynamic characters.

“This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” centers on the death of Victor’s estranged father in Phoenix, and Victor’s attempt to recover the ashes and meager fortune that lies there. Moreover, the story builds on the memories that Victor and Thomas recollect as they journey to and from Arizona. At one point, Thomas recalls a dream that he has at the age of thirteen; the voices and visions in his dream summon him to travel to Spokane Falls over fifty miles away to wait for a sign. He expects to see a vision at the falls, but only encounters Victor’s father who feeds him and takes him back home. The memories, dreams and voices Thomas has are important, because the...

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...ation of the old-world Indian with a more updated identity of a Neo Native American. In another instance, Junior recalls a time when Norma and he are sitting in the Powwow Tavern and Victor comes in drunk yelling, “’Somebody out in the parking lot kept saying powwow. And you know how I love a good goddamn powwow.’” (270). This memory is crucial, because it humorously depicts the importance of alcoholism and the damaging tolls it takes on the reservation. The constant drinking on the reservation also has a detrimental effect on the traditions and culture of the Native Americans. These Indians, so consumed with their drinking, lose all sense of themselves and their traditions.

All of Alexie's characters are continually searching for the right way to balance their skeletons. The Native Americans of the Spokane Indian Reservation live in a world of lost dreams.