Use of Humor in Sherman Alexie's Works

In “A Drug Called Tradition,” one function of Alexie’s humor is that it prevents the characters’ pain from intensifying. For example, at the beginning of the story, Alexie starts with humor to mitigate his characters’ pain. After Junior shouts at Thomas, questioning “[h]ow come your fridge is always fucking empty,” Thomas goes inside the refrigerator and sits down, replying Junior “[t]here…It ain’t empty no more,” which makes everyone in the kitchen laugh (Alexie 12). As seen in this example, humor keeps the characters from being depressed and painful in spite of their poverty. As a result, Alexie’s humor abates his characters’ pain and prevents their pain from aggravating.

Similarly, in “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” Alexie’s humor alleviates the characters’ agony and makes it endurable for readers. For instance, once, Jimmy and Norma are stopped by a Washington State patrolman simply because they are Indians: “Washington State has a new law against riding as a passenger in an Indian car” (165). In facing racism, Jimmy uses humor and even compliments the patrolman on his service in a satiric tone: “[t]hat extra dollar is a tip, you know? Your service has been excellent” (166). By using humor to face discrimination against them, Jimmy mitigates the intense situation and the pain for himself, his wife, and readers. Thus, Alexie’s humor abates his characters’ pain and makes it tolerable for readers.

Likewise, in “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore,” Alexie’s humor mitigates the Indians’ pain as well. After Victor and Adrian talk about the rising basketball star, Julius Windmaker, they hear some glass-breaking sounds and see Julius get caught by the tribal cop because Julius “[t]hrew ...

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...narrator Victor and Adrian sit on the porch and talk about the basketball stars on the reservation, particularly Julius Windmaker, who is somber and talented at basketball at the age of fifteen. One year later, Victor and Adrian sit on the same porch and see their drunken basketball star—Julius. At the end of the story, Victor and Adrian talk about a talented third-grade ballplayer, Lucy, hoping that she will be a successful ballplayer. Humor, as a strategy, is also used in this story.

McFarland, Ron. "'Another Kind of Violence': Sherman Alexie's poems." The

American Indian Quarterly 21.2 (1997): 251+. General OneFile. Web. 27 July 2011.

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.