Mayar W. Ghorab 900162585 This is what it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Sherman Alexie, author of “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” has shared her fruitful ideas about the true meaning of friendship. Victor, the core person of the story faced many issues. He is a young individual, having an Indian origin. He is aware of his Dad who died in Phoenix. Victor planned for Phoenix, for closing his Dad’s account and picking up his ashes, but due to being jobless, he felt short of finances to travel to Phoenix. Thomas is another important character of the story. Both Victor and Thomas were a good companions in their childhood. Thomas was famous for telling tales, but since he kept on repeating the same tales, people were not …show more content…
interested in his tales. Thomas and Victor reunited, when Thomas got the news that Victor’s dad has passed away. Thomas offered a deal to Victor, by suggesting to finance his trip to Phoenix in return of travelling with him. Author initiated the concept of strong friendship between Thomas & Victor in their childhood, that as they grew older can be noted in their life trials, such as demise of Victor’s dad.
Thomas was eager to company Victor in his phoenix trip, for collecting ashes of Victor’s dad, due to the fact that an event occurred during Thomas childhood, involving Victor’s father, that aid him feel more secure. During their journey Victor felt sense of asking Thomas for forgiveness of all what happened between them in the past. The writer has made use of metaphor. By the end of the story Thomas was given part of Victor’s dad ashes, they had discussed earlier as throwing ashes and observing Salmon happily. Thomas said “It will be beautiful. His teeth will shine like silver, like a rainbow, he will rise.” This statement imparts a particularly distinctive picture of Salmon, in the reader’s perception and demonstrates an accurate predilection, behind this discord incident. This odyssey, reunited Victor, with an old companion, on whom he can trust. Thomas, made Victor to gather on his way back, few positive and negative memories, which he needed to memorize. Thomas was also benefited from this journey, by narrating to Victor tales, that refresh many memories of his childhood and his dad. I can relate Thomas and Victor’s experience with mine. When I came to live in Cairo, four years ago, I faced many hurdles in schools and in my daily routine. I left my friends and my relatives and I become depressed as I could not make new friends easily. Being introvert for a while let me realize that being with people that care about you and stand side by side with you to support you, is the most strong and worthy
relationship.
Sherman Alexie's literature often uses symbolic features relating to Native American culture. His characters tell their stories while Alexie tells his own story simultaneously. His 1993 short story, This is What It Means to Say Pheonix Arizona and later film adaption Smoke Signals focuses on two young native American men, Victor and Thomas on a journey to collect Victor's father's ashes. Throughout the journey, Victor reflects on previous events that relate to the death of his abusive father. Fire and Ash continually show up throughout the story; it can be seen through Victor's anger, actual fires and even symbolic fires. Although different,
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix Arizona”, Victor has become psychologically troubled because he has put his own traditions behind. Throughout the story, the readers find out that Victor has an internal conflict due to the unhealthy relationships in his life. His father abandons him at a very young age, which causes Victor’s loss of guidance and self-identity. The day that Victor’s father abandons his family, Victor gets “really drunk and beat[s] Thomas up for no apparent reason at all”(276).
In life, everyone experiences a time of hardship, and for the most part, those affected find methods of overcoming the adversity. The idea of getting through hardship is best reflected in; Sherman J. Alexie’s story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (274). In the story, victor whose father had recently died from a heart attack has to travel to phoenix Arizona to reclaim his father’s ashes and his truck. Victor is joined by his former childhood friend “Thomas Builds-the-fire”, who finances the trip to phoenix since Victor did not have the means. They drove back truck from phoenix to the reservation. Throughout the trip, Thomas is always telling stories mostly reminiscing about their childhood. It is through Thomas stories that we learn much about Victor’s father. Through the use of symbolism, and character development, Alexie conveys the idea that, when someone is experiencing an adversity, reconnecting and embracing the past may lead to a discovery of a brighter future.
“This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” discusses the physical and mental journey of Victor, a Native American man in the state of Washington, as he goes to Phoenix, Arizona to claim his father’s remains and his savings account. While on this journey, Victor learns about himself, his father, and his Indian culture with the help of his estranged friend, Thomas Builds-the–Fire. The author, Sherman Alexie, plays on the stereotypes of Native Americans through the characters of Victor and Thomas. While Thomas is portrayed as the more traditional and “good” Native American, Victor comes across as the “bad” Native American. Through the use of this binary relationship, Alexie is able to illustrate the transformation of these characters as they reconcile with each other, and break out of these stereotypes in the process.
The theme in a story is the message or big idea that the author is trying to reveal in his or her narrative. If there was no underlining theme in Sherman Alexie’s short story, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” then readers would have no interest in reading the fictional story. Understanding the message that Alexie is trying to display to his readers can vary in many ways and depends on the reader 's understanding of the story. Strong themes that are presented in the fictional tale are man versus self conflict, family, and tribal identity. Victor is a tribal member that has had a rough life and has to deal with his father passing away. Not only does he have to come to terms with his father 's death, but he also has to face his
The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
Rise like a salmon. Whereas victor goes to the river to throw the ashes into the river to finally get rid of the anger and bitterness that has infected him since he was young. So when he goes it is more of a cleaning out the attic because he is releasing all the bad juju from his father and trying to figure out who he is. But without the journey of traveling to find his father and the ceremony of letting go, he would not have been able to move on.
Translation of literature often results in many ideas and words getting lost, as the translations aren’t able to reflect the ideas and words originally crafted by an author. This is especially true in Fitzgerald’s translation of The Odyssey, in which many Greek ideas and words are lost in the translation. These include the Greek words Oizdus and Xenia, which both represent ideas that cannot be fully expressed in English because they pertain to ideas from a culture that is much different than the modern western culture that Robert Fitzgerald, the translator, lived in. The Greek word Oizdus represents the idea of deep pain and suffering and Xenia represents the ancient-Greek custom of hospitality. It is important to note that hospitality in ancient-Greece was much different than today’s version. Hospitality in the Greek world was thought of as mandatory and that refusal of one’s request for hospitality would anger the gods. In The Odyssey there is a deep entrenched connection between the ideas of Oizdus and Xenia. In his book, Homer shows that hospitality often brings pain when it is unwanted or when it is accepted without caution.
Everyone expects a hero’s odyssey to end in glory, for the hero to come home with a win under his belt and stories of victory to tell. The Odyssey exemplifies this particular ideal of a hero’s journey. Odysseus comes home after twenty years abroad, having beaten multiple foes along the way, and continues to win as he slays the suitors who are courting his wife. There is no doubt that his odyssey ended with a win. However, not all odysseys have such happy endings. Junior’s odyssey in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, mostly inspired my creative project. Junior’s journey, in particular, stood out since his obvious odyssey abruptly ended without a victory. I wanted to address that the purpose of an odyssey is not always to come out on top but can be learning about yourself.
In This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, Alexie introduces a form of satirical humor between the characters. One night on the reservation Thomas-Builds-the-Fire is rushing Thomas to go see the fireworks for the fourth of July. Thomas later realizes and says this to victor, “It’s strange how us Indians celebrate the fourth of July. It ain’t like it was our independence everybody was fighting for” (Alexie 284). Its funny how Alexie incorporates this piece of humor in the text because originally the Native Americans were screwed over by the US Government but now they are found celebrating the independence day for the Americans because of the fireworks. Another form of satirical humor that Alexie uses in this short story is when Thomas is giving his condolences to Victor for the loss of his father. Victor is quick to react and is curious on how Thomas received the information so quickly. Thomas then replies with the witty remark, “I heard It on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. Also, your mother was just in here crying” (Alexie 283). This quote from the story shows how Alexie incorporates humor because by hearing Thomas speak it almost sounds like he knew about the death of Victors father from a vision or a dream, something mysterious but in fact he only knew because he saw victors mother crying. In the short story The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, also includes a use of satirical humor. This is in regards to the first page where junior is in the convenience store. Ever since he entered the convenience store the clerk suspected he was up to no good because of his physical appearance. However, junior was just a regular person who was looking to buy some ice cream on a hot day. To overcome the situation
Growing up is not an easy task, on the way to adulthood humans face trials and tests. Heart of Thomas shows the process of finding oneself and how it is different for each individual in the story. No one follows the exact same path in their life due to many external, and internal factors, such as upbringing, social status, appearance, thoughts, interests, who one is associated with, the list goes on and on. Hardships will present themselves to people in different ways, like the loss of a family member, or the loss of money, both valid hardships, however, they are taking different forms. Hardships such as the ones explored in Heart of Thomas shape the characters and help them find their own identities. The text shows how one must come to
Sherman Alexie’s Indian Education focuses his attention on three main points and uses character, setting, and ambiguity to write his story. Alexie focuses on one main character, himself, while also focusing on the setting of his school off the reservation. He uses ambiguity to make his story complex and gives a broad spectrum of meaning for his words, which flows perfectly throughout his story. The story showcases each grade of Alexie’s school life and explains the challenges he had to face through life while attending school, which was not common where he was from.
Thesis: In, This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, Victor's father's death leads to the many stories about their childhood that makes them reconsider their friendship.
In conclusion, the “Odyssey” is one of the greatest literary works ever known and this literary analysis should help the reader to understand the important components of the novel such as theme, characters, relationships, symbols, motifs, literary devices, and tone.