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“The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" analysis
The Lone Ranger and tonto fight in heaven
“The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" analysis
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Jesus Christ’s Half-Brother is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation Imagine the world without hope, diversity, uniqueness, heroes and role models. Everybody would have the same height, shape, voice, skin color, eye color, hair color, clothes, job, interests and so on. They would most likely live in the same type of home, own the same things, speak the same language and eat the same food. If a person tried to be unique, the society would try to drag that person down to society’s hopeless status. Personally, I couldn’t stand a minute in a world like that. Unfortunately, the worlds like these exist. In Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, Alexie writes about a typical Indian reservation in the United States …show more content…
In the very first lines to describe about James and about his namesake, “Anyhow she gave birth to him but he came out all blue and they couldn’t get him to breathe for a long time but he finally did and Rosemary Morningdove name him ------ which is unpronounceable in Indian and English but it means: He Who Crawls Silently Through the Grass with a Small Bow and One Bad Arrow Hunting for Enough Deer to Feed the Whole Tribe. We just call him James” (Alexie, 110-11). Based on this quote, the author gave us a littlie bit meaning about James’s name by telling us how James gets into this world. According to the Bible, James is Jesus’s half brother, he is the other son between Mother Marry and her husband. As Jesus, James lives in faith, teach and help people to follow the God’s holy, spiritual laws, which help us understand what sin is. However, the difference between James and Jesus is Jesus was born as the Son of God and Mother Marry, carry the power and magical of God; meanwhile, James was born as a normal person. In my opinion, James’s mother give him that name, “James”, because she wants her James live like James, Jesus’s half-brother, in Bible, having huge of knowledge and helping others. In addition, James in the novel and Jesus in the Bible have few similar things for people to understand his James following Jesus life. For example, …show more content…
The narrator thinks James’s grandfather, Moses, wants to get out of his grandfatherly duties so the narrator takes care of James. Since he carried James, he like a single dad but James made his life became better and not longer lonely. At the beginning of story, in the first few years when the narrator adopted James, he keep drinking and living without hope. After the time the narrator got drunk and forgot his baby, James, in front of another people’s house, he started to take serious to himself and his baby. Following the story, it has many details to support the meaning of James to the narrator; such as, when he found out James could not speak or cry. He addresses this issue by taking James to doctors, but Alexie writes, “They looked him over and said there was nothing wrong with him and that he’s just a little slow developing and that’s what the doctors always say and they’ve been saying that about Indians for five hundred years” (page 120), this quote show the racism between the white and Indian, and the narrator knows something wrong is happening to his kid that is not because he is Indian. After he adopted James, he went form being alone to having a family who is supporting him. For example, the narrator develops an alcohol problem and in response to his failure to stop, his aunt and Suzy Song (who babysits James) moves in
First of all, James cares for Isaac during times that can be dangerous. James would hold Isaac’s hand while crossing the street, and feel very sorry to hurt him by accident. “I hold Isaac’s hand as we cross the street”. Also, “‘Aw, Isey,’ I say. ‘I’m sorry. Are you OK?’”. This evidence shows that James cares for Isaac because, he wants him to be safe. Isaac could have been in great danger, walking across the street by himself could lead to a car accident. In addition, if James had never noticed that Isaac fell over and got hurt, he would be left outside with nobody to help. James had helped only Isaac in that situation, and did not mind his friends. This evidence is logical because, only brothers that are caring would help each other, and would not ignore them when they are in need. This also shows why James admires family more than friends.
Literature is defined as written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. For a textbook definition, this suffices. However, literature is much more than that, it’s a form of expression. In Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, we are able to see native communities in a different way than what we read about in articles or research papers. We’re given a different perspective on them which can help us understand these communities better. The first chapter, though it is early in the book, is able to support this idea.
Unknown, to James at this point he did not realize that he was having a problem with a psychological theory called behaviorism. Now this theory is one that is saying human behavior is developed through learning experiences which in this case would apply to James. His behavior as an adult was reflected by the way he was treated as a kid by his father and mother because they fought all the time. They never truly paid any attention to him, which in terms taught him how to stay out of their way and learn how to steal and burglarize places without getting caught. Therefore, within the psychological theory of behaviorism Behaviorists saw crime as something that is a learned response to life’s situations such as James situation which led him to a life of crime because of his parents. Although, he was never truly mistreated, he did not receive his father attention due to the fact of the way his father was treated as a child growing up an abusive household. Therefore, he did not want to place his son in the same situation. There is also the fact that James could be suffering from the psychodynamic theory which says that a person’s personality can be controlled by their unconscious mental process and that is grounded in them in early childhood. These entire things such as the id, ego, and superego
As a boy, James questions his unique family and color through his confusion of race issues. Later in his life, as an adolescent, his racial perplexity results in James hiding from his emotions, relying only on the anger he felt against the world. It is only when James uncovers the past of his mother does he begin to understand the complexity of himself and form his own identity. As James matures, issues of race in his life become too apparent to ignore. His multiracial family provides no clear explanations on prejudices and racism, and when "[James] asked [Ruth] if she was white, she'd say, No. I'm light skinned and change the subject.
The systematic racism and discrimination in America has long lasting effects that began back when Europeans first stepped foot on American soil is still visible today but only not written into the law. This racism has lead to very specific consequences on the Native people in today’s modern world, and while the racism is maybe not as obvious it is still very present. These modern Native peoples fight against the feeling of community as a Native person, and feeling entirely alone and not a part of it. The poem “The Reservation” by Susan Cloud and “The Real Indian Leans Against” by Chrystos examine the different effects and different settings of how their cultures survived but also how so much was lost for them within their own identity.
He lived a life without parental guidance. His mother left him with his father when he was only 4 years old. James was often left alone while his father traveled to turpentine camps selling tar for a living. James recalls the times he spent alone walking around in the woods looking for doodlebugs, and playing a harmonica his father gave him. During this time alone, he never had anyone around to talk to but himself (Brenchley, 2003).
According to the 2015 National Gang Report (NGR) from the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) almost half of law enforcement juristictions across the United States reported a rise in street gang membership and street gang activitiy. My communitty is no exception.
Throughout the years, the violence has decreased, but still exists. “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” is relevant in modern day America due to the many issues regarding the Native-American population. The story uses deep symbolic meanings to represent a bigger picture, as well as the title itself. Most importantly, it demonstrates the struggling relationship between Native-Americans and white mainstream America, while depicting racism and prejudice on both ends. “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” is a well-written commentary on the occasional issues that arise in the United States with the Native-American
As a White American, I have been virtually unaware of the harsh living conditions that Native Americans have been enduring. This past summer I was fishing and camping at a resort in northwestern Minnesota with my family. I realized that this resort was located on the White Earth Indian Reservation. As I drove around the towns that the resort was near, I saw that the Native Americans were terribly poverty-stricken. Besides the resort that my family and I were staying at and a small casino that was nearby, most of the buildings and houses were in poor condition. The majority of the houses were trailers and not something that I would call “livable.” This raised a few questions in my mind: Why are people on Indian reservations living this way and what other things besides housing are Native Americans lacking? As I began research on these questions, I found three major issues. Poverty, health, and education are three tribulations that, at this point, remain broken on American Indian reservations.
...r but Octavia tells him "You not a bum," she says. "You a man."(p.404) This is significant because it shows he is not seen as a young boy by his mother anymore, he is now seen as a man. We see the influence and change in James by all of the life lessons his mother instills in him, she tells him he needs to not cry, to be strong, and be able to stand alone symbolizes that he must be independent, he must also put others before himself and do things he may not like to do but must do as a necessity to live, such as killing the cardinal birds for supper. Helena also shows James that everything in life you must work for, that is why she tells him to take out the trash cans.
Sandefur, G. (n.d.). American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc121f.pdf
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, written by Sherman Alexie, talked about many of the serious problems facing modern American Indians include alcoholism, poverty, racism, limited access to education, and geographical isolation. Some of those problems still exist today when I read the news. In the story ‘Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play “the Star-spangled Banner” At Woodstock’, Victor's father during the Vietnam war beat up a national guard soldier. This scene was took down by a photographer, the final photos won the Pulitzer prize, and in many news sites.
James was an authoritarian parent. He was controlling, in-charge and no one questioned him. He would play the role of the doting father. When his children made mistakes, he made a point to criticize them. He often compared them to other kids that he felt were “more perfect.” When his often unspoken expectations were not met he would yell and scream striking fear into his entire family. “He’s not a warm, fuzzy kind of guy, and he’s not going to inspire feelings of intimacy. But when his system works, he can boast about one thing: His recruits tend to obey” (Dewar).
In this letter, I aim to convince you that The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is an essential book for high school students to read. As you may know, this book is often debated to be suitable or unsuitable for usage in the classroom due to its common usage of profanity, and lack of complex words. However, the writer’s skillful depictions of relationships between people throughout the book is a great source of information for young writers on how to depict relationships in realistic terms. Profanity can be seen throughout the book, and is a possible deterrent to young readers. However, this use of profanity is purposeful, not consequential, and is an intrinsic part of the author’s writing style and how he builds character in each