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Native American activist Sherman Alexie
Native american struggles in america
Native american struggles in america
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Sherman Alexie displays his cultural relevancy by giving a voice to a group of people that many have forgotten about, “Indians.” Native Americans are often overlooked of forgotten when talking about racial issues, this may be since there has been racial issues against Native Americans ever since America began. Alexie also talks about the importance of family and emotional support. Native Americans are profiled just like African Americans and people from the Middle East. Alexie portrays this in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. “Can I help you?” the 7-11 clerk asked me loudly, searching for some response that would reassure him that I wasn’t an armed robber. He knew this dark skin and long, black hair of mine was dangerous. I had potential. (p. 292) …show more content…
Racism and discrimination are talked about all of the time these days, whether it is “Black Lives Matter,” or “The Women’s March.” Everyone is aware to some degree about discrimination toward African Americans and Women.
These people can be seen every day, whether that is in person to person interactions or through online interaction. Native Americans were put in their own little box and pushed to the back of our minds. Alexie helps to pull that box out, dust it off and show us the issues that it holds. Native Americans can receive just as much racism as any other minority and needs to be brought to light just like all of the others were in the past. In This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Alexie talks about how it is important to have people who will help you when you need it
most. They both searched for words to end the journey. Victor needed to thank Thomas for his help, for the money, and make the promise to pay it back. (p. 290) Even when Victor’s community failed him, Thomas was still there for him even after years of them not talking. A large part most people’s lives is their family or a group of people who is like a family to them. In this short story Alexie shows how important Thomas was to Victor, he had no one else to turn to but Thomas was there for him. Families and support groups are vital to navigating the ups and downs of life, Alexie shows us how that looks in a Native American setting. Sherman Alexie is culturally relevant in many ways, a few are, addressing racial issues and talking about the importance of family. Native Americans can be missed when talking about communities but they also fall into many of the same communities we fall into.
Analysis of Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven' and 'Smoke Signals'
Historical Info about the Novel: The book was published by Alexie in 1993, but he had written many other short stories about his family and hometown (using pseudo-names, of course) which he used to offer a new insight to Indian Reservation life. The book was published, and is in circulation, during a time where Indians face numerous trials because of their heritage and the society that they are born into. The setting is derived from Alexie’s hometown, the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington.
Overall, Alexie clearly faced much difficulty adjusting to the white culture as a Native American growing up, and expresses this through Victor in his essay, “Indian Education.” He goes through all of the stages of his childhood in comparison with his white counterparts. Racism and bullying are both evident throughout the whole essay. The frustration Alexie got from this is clear through the negativity and humor presented in the experiences he had to face, both on and off of the American Indian reservation. It is evident that Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
...s the only one who sees the injustice and still identifies most wholly with Native American identity, and does not wish for a place in white society.
In conclusion, Sherman Alexie created a story to demonstrate the stereotypes people have created for Native Americans. The author is able to do this by creating characters that present both the negative and positive stereotypes that have been given to Native Americans. Alexie has a Native American background. By writing a short story that depicts the life of an Indian, the reader also gets a glimpse of the stereotypes encountered by Alexie. From this short story readers are able to learn the importance of having an identity while also seeing how stereotypes are used by many people. In the end of the story, both Victor and Thomas are able to have an understanding of each other as the can finally relate with each other through Victor's father.
Natives have been a part of media coverage from the early days of media itself. Most of the time, however, they have been portrayed in an incorrect way and that has persisted throughout centuries. Natives had this image of them created from the first time they appeared in newspapers which were either as a savage or a noble. Miranda J. Brady in her article, “Stories of Great Indians by Elmo Scott Watson” says that the noble savage was an image created of Natives that portrayed them as spiritual or the white man’s friend by Elmo Scott Watson (22). Natives had this image of them created that either portrayed them as someone spiritual or someone that hunted animals and had primal instincts. Both of these types of images were carried on into the 20th century despite being incorrect and
In this essay, McFarland discusses Native American poetry and Sherman Alexie’s works. He provides an overview of Alexie’s writing in both his poems and short stories. A brief analysis of Alexie’s use of humor is also included.
Another ideal that Alexie explores is the distrust of the more charitable acts of the whites. In the scene in the store in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven even after the clerk reveals his reasons for observing the speaker and attempting small talk, the speaker still suspects these act to be counterfeit. He also states that he knows the price of the item that was given to him free as if he thought that item was an unfair trade. Alexie also illustrates this in This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona when he doubts the sincerity of the conversations that Thomas and a woman on the plane undertakes and the witty responses he adds in the conversations on the plane.
Shermans Alexie’s, “Crows Testament”, “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix Arizona”, and “Because My Father Said He Was the Only One Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangles Banner’ at Woodstock”, describes life on the reservations while using Foucault’s concept of bio power to further explain the Native American life in today’s modern American society. Collectively Alexie makes the point that their current lifestyle is in result of economics and the limited supply of money that circulated around the reservations is not enough for them to live a substantial, let alone mediocre life. In each text we get a little bit closer to life of Native Indians, observing how they live and why it ended up that way.
Overall, Alexie uses this book to call to Native Americans across the country to do something about the destruction of their culture. He uses activities such as fancy dancing, powwows, and storytelling to lend to the idea that Indians are able rekindle the flame of their culture and that the identity of the Indian culture can still be preserved. Norma Many Horses and Thomas Builds-the-Fire show up numerous times in the short stories and have an unforgettable affect on readers. This is because they both have a strong sense of the identity of their culture and the fact that it is slowly diminishing. Through out the stories these two characters do their best to use their talents to preserve their culture. The book is full of persevering characters the will the Native American culture to continue on.
In the documentary Reel Injun by Neil Diamond it talks about how Native Americans are discriminated against in modern and early America. It shows how discrimination affects the natives in multiple ways, some feel as if they are unwanted on America and don’t exist. Also in the poem In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers by Dwight Okita and the letters and reports regarding Japanese internment by Various authors shows how the Japanese were discriminated against for their heritage and background. Also, how that discrimination separated families and made the Japanese feel as if they were unwanted in America. Finally in the book Breakfast at Sally’s by Richard LeMieux it tells a true
Sherman Alexie, a Spokane Indian, grew up on a reservation in eastern Washington, surrounded by poverty, alcoholism, and diseases. Against the odds, he became a rising star. Alexie, born on October 7th, 1966, where he was “miserable” growing up due to his father’s alcoholism. Alexie proves that growing up in an unprivileged community and making something out of your life is possible. Sherman Alexie relates his story to his life. In the story Victor, the main character, loses his father and the poverty within the Indian reservation causes him to have a long lost friend, Thomas, reappear in Victor’s life after multiple years of not communicating and pay for the trip down to Phoenix. Throughout the story Victor and Thomas became close again.
In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, many social issues regarding Native Americans are explained and discussed. The characters struggle with these issues throughout the book, such as racism, poverty as well as abuse, and are held back because of them. The battle with alcoholism and abuse in their families greatly affect Junior and Rowdy in their everyday lives.
Sherman Alexi identifies as an Indigenous American that trails back from several tribes, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. His book is based off of his own experiences when he lived on the reservation. Sherman wanted to show the reader what it was like through his childhood as he grew up. Where he was an Indian in a place most people didn’t want them. This story was written to show the advancement in his life, to move forward and live a life his parents and himself wanted.
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.