In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” there are the two main characters in the story in which we follow along with on their journey and notice their change. Victor has just been laid off and found out his father has died. His character at the beginning of the story is negative, frustrated, angry, and confused. Having found out both of these things within the same week for him has given him a negative outlook. Thomas on the other hand is the storyteller on the rez that nobody wants to listen to. He is lonely, positive, but a sad life. After their journey together, Victor finds out about his dad more and builds a bond with Thomas that would have never happened had he not asked him for help in the first …show more content…
place. He goes from being confused and angry, to happy and at peace with his father. Thomas, same deal, while they technically are not friends towards the end of the story. They will be forever bonded by this journey and helped his friendship with Victor get a little deeper. He helped Victor change his perception of his dad and while doing so, helped himself get close to someone at the rez. Author Sherman Alexie uses the journey to Arizona to reveal and demonstrate change and the protagonist’s lifestyle. While Victor lives a torn and confused life because of his father’s absence, his outlook on his father changes because he learns that his father did indeed love and care for him. Thomas, on the other hand, lives a lonely life because of how people in the rez look at him, changes because he finally gains respect and attention from someone at home. Victor’s feelings and the perception of his father in the beginning of this story are very negative and confused.
He had not seen his father in a few years and had only spoken to him via telephone a handful of times. His perception of his father was sad because when he was younger his dad was an alcoholic and would rarely take care of him as it was. His mother was the one who ended up raising Victor due to the fact that his dad left them when he was only about seven years old. His father’s actions are what caused him to believe that he did not love him at all and made it clear when he left him at an early age. Not having seen his father in a couple of years and finding out that he has died would hit anyone hard. He felt obligated to go, but at the same time he feared going to Arizona because he feared his dad. He did not believe there was a point in him going to collect anything that was left other than the truck and savings account that was left for him. Victor does not find out that his father truly loved and cared for him until they got to the trailer where his body was found. Thomas was speaking about the time Victor’s dad had helped him because of the vision that he had telling him to go to a certain location. While waiting Victor’s dad picked him up, bought him a dinner, and returned him home. Victor’s dad told Thomas to take care and help Victor as he will need it. This is what triggered some memories for Victor and came to the realization that his dad did love him …show more content…
and still cared about his wellbeing. Had it not been for this journey, or even Thomas coming along, Victor’s perception of his father would have remained a negative one. The journey helped him change his view on his father which led him to being at peace with himself about it. Thomas is an odd character. Very nice, positive, but a lonely and sad person at heart. People at the rez are very rude and do not interact with him at all due to him always talking and retelling the same stories. He also talks to himself, animals, and objects. People try to avoid him at all costs or they will be stuck listening to him forever. Victor and he were very close friends during their childhood. They would always hangout and do, well, kid stuff. Ride bikes, watch fireworks, go to school together, etc. It was not until they got older when Thomas became the storyteller he is now and they grew apart. While they had not spoken in a while, Thomas agreed to help Victor with getting him to Arizona for his father’s ashes. He knew he was going to ask him before he asked him. All Victor had to do was take Thomas along for the ride and he would give him the money for the plane ticket. Victor did not know it at first, but Thomas helped him out because Victor’s dad helped him when he was younger. Thomas’ dad was killed in World War II and his mother had passed while giving birth to him. He did not have a father figure in life and Victor’s dad was the closest he got to one. Another underlying reason while Thomas agreed to help him was to build their friendship back up again and have a friend on the rez. This journey helped them grow together and remember the good times. Thomas was the only one who could really help Victor during his troubles and that is what real friends do. Once having got back to the rez, Victor gave half of his father’s ashes to Thomas as a gift for helping him out. They knew that they would go back to the way they were before the trip, but they created a memory together that neither of them will ever forget. Along with giving him half of his father’s ashes, he agreed that he would listen to a story Thomas was telling. Thomas’ change is subtle, but it is there. He does no longer feel lonely on the rez and has someone to speak to or at least notice him on the streets. He proved to Victor he is a true friend and changed his view of his father. Had the trip not happened, neither character would have improved. Victor’s lifestyle prior to this trip was a horrible one.
Like mentioned before, he did not like his father for being a drunk and leaving him and his mother so early, and he did not like his job. Throughout the beginning of the journey, Victor is negative about the situation and the things that are taking place. For example, on the plane when sitting next to a gymnast, Thomas begins a little small talk while Victor told him not to in the first place. Shortly after their goodbyes, Victor mentions that she was only friendly due to the fact that they were sitting next to each other and that is that people do to make the time go by faster. His life was not one that was good at all. He needed this journey to find himself and have a better outlook on his life in the
future. Thomas was living a very lonely lifestyle before this trip. While yes, they went back to their old ways, Thomas knew that if he had to talk to someone it could be Victor. He had tremendously helped him out in getting him to Arizona for his father. Everyone on the rez ran away from him and avoided him to the max. They did not want to talk to him nor be seen by their peers talking to Thomas because he was labeled as ‘crazy’. Victor even mentioned that he would talk to himself, dogs, and even talk to cars, no one wanted to be seen talking to a person if they talk to cars. Even living at his house, he did not have any siblings and both of his parents were dead so he lived by himself. Total social isolation is not healthy for an individual who is already like the way he is. The only reason Victor came up to him in the first place was because he was desperate, not because they were friends. But by the end of the journey, they were sure friends, even if it did not seem like it. Thomas was able to make a friend on the rez and pay his respects to the man he considered his father figure by spreading his ashes in the lake. The author uses the journey itself rather than the destination to reveal and slowly change the characters throughout. Victor began a very pessimistic and baffled character not knowing really what to do after finding out about his that his alcoholic father has died. With his back against the wall he asks Thomas for some help who later reveals an interaction with Victor’s dad that truly shows he did love his son and cherished him. This ultimately changes Victor’s perception of his father and it translates into him being more optimistic. Thomas began very lonesome and somber. He agreed to go on this adventure with Victor because he felt he needed to stay true to what Victor’s dad has told him and help him out in times of need. The campaign there and back from Arizona is what both characters needed and it was a journey to self-discovery and improvement for both Victor and Thomas. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. . Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Pearson, pp. 103–111.
The Arizona atmosphere was visibly different in both literal and nonliteral ways from Kentucky. Taylor’s lifestyle would have been drastically contrasting with how she thrived in her new home of Tucson. Apart from having a night and day experience at maternity, and getting a fresh start at life on her own, Taylor also met a new group of people who changed her in many ways. Lou Ann, who molded her into a better mother, Mattie, who helped her to overcome fears, Esperanza, though she spoke very little, managed to open Taylor’s eyes the horrors of a life she would never have to experience, and finally Turtle, who made Taylor realize what she loved most in life. Pittman, Kentucky did not have any of these individuals to teach the protagonist of this story.
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
Growing up, Victor and Thomas didn’t get a long so well. Thomas was often annoying and Victor just wanted to be left alone. Thomas often talked of Arnold and Victor never wanted to talk about his deserted father. The last thing that Victor wanted to do was talk about the father that bailed on...
... 74). Unlike Thomas, Victor was planning to do the same at first, but his credence changed. Thomas’ spirituality is pure and this scene brings them closer together because of their connection through Victor’s father.
In the film Smoke Signals, the director Chris Eyre shows the audience how story telling played an essential role in Native American culture. Throughout the movie, Thomas is always telling stories with passion and humor, which Victor hates due to the fact that most of the stories were good memories with Thomas and Victors father. Being that Victor and his mom were abused and abandoned by their father when Victor was young, therefore he had mixed feelings about his father. However, the movie would not have been the same without the story telling of Thomas. In This is What It
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).
Through connecting with his former best friend, Victor was able travel to Phoenix to reclaim his father’s ashes and belongings. During the trip we see Thomas and Victor reminisce about their former days as friends, and although at the end they both agreed that they could not be friends, they gained a deeper understanding of each other. Even though Victor could not say it, deep down, he knew that his best friend was in fact Thomas.
When Victor flees the creature, he becomes lonely and unhappy. He rejects his own works. If he stayed and taught him the creature would at least have a chance of happiness. When the monster flees to the cottagers he learns about human nature. He quotes “I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter and stupid despair. My protector had departed and broken the only link that held me to th...
This makes Victor to be a modern character who only think about himself. Victor did something only if it might help his future and get benefit from something he think it is good. Victor’s father had a savings account that is waiting to be collected, so Victor tried to get his father’s account and he prepared to go to Phoenix, Arizona where father died (Alexie, 21). Money symbolizes Victor’s selfishness and negative feelings. Victor does not think about others, but he only thinks about himself, and has negative thoughts while he lives his life. Victor represents the modern people because people from the present always think about themselves and does not care about the past, so money that victor’s father had was very important to Victor to live his life. Victor said to Thomas that he will pay the money back, but he does not want to give the money from his father’s account to Thomas. After they retrieved, Victor gave half of his father’s ashes to Thomas (Alexie, 30). Victor’s father’s ash symbolizes the friendship between Victor and Thomas because they both have memories with Victor’s father and they both want to toss his ashes into the water. They both wanted to do same thing, but their meanings are different. Victor thinks negative ways about toss his father’s ashes into water and described that letting things go after they stopped having any use (Alexie, 30).
Victor grows up in school both on the American Indian Reservation, then later in the farm town junior high. He faces serious discrimination at both of these schools, due to his Native American background. This is made clear in both of the schools by the way the other students treat him as well as how his teachers treat him. His classmates would steal his glasses, trip him, call him names, fight him, and many other forms of bullying. His teachers also bullied him verbally. One of his teachers gave him a spelling test and because he aced it, she made him swallow the test. When Victor was at a high school dance and he passed out on the ground. His teacher approached him and the first thing he asked was, “What’s that boy been drinking? ...
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.
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
After killing his younger brother, Elizabeth , and his best friend, Victor after having no family left wanted to put an end to it all so he ended up chasing his creation and dying before catching it. After bringing the creature into this world and leaving it behind to fend for itself the creature endured lots of agony and pain from society which drove its rage to Victor and his family and he ended up kill this younger brother and soon to be wife. Both were isolated from society, Victor brought isolation upon himself through locking himself up to create the creature and ignoring everything around him as stated in the article, “The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit. It was a most beautiful season; never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest, or the vines yield a more luxuriant vintage: but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time. I knew my silence disquieted them; and I well-remembered the words of my father: "I know that while you are pleased with yourself, you will think of us with affection, and we shall hear regularly from you. You must pardon me if I regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally neglected.” As
Victor’s life starts with great potential. He comes from a decently wealthy family whose lack of love towards each other never existed. He is given everything he needs for a great future, and his academics seem to be convalescing. Everything starts to change once Victor`s ambitions become his life. He leaves to study at Ingolstadt where his destiny begins to unfold. This is when Victor’s isolation begins. The search for the secrets of life consumes him for many years until he thinks he has found it. For months, he assembles what he needs for his creation to come alive. The day came in which he was able to complete his life time research project. This day was described as the day “breathless ...
In Victor thoughts the conflict of enlightenment is also represented. He arrives on the boat a dreary broken man, stating that science and his own enlightenment are what brought him there. He did not choose to go to the college at Ingolstadt but his father advised him to. Upon his arrival and the beginning of his schooling Victor continuously struggled between the thoughts of Geneva and the new education he had.