↞The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven↠

Sherman Alexie and the Role He Plays in the Oral Tradition

©2017 Haley Rains Photography

Organization:

Date of Assignment: March 14th, 2017

Title: Sherman Alexie and the Role He Plays in the Oral Tradition

Book: Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Chapters: Every Little Hurricane; This is What is Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona; The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore; The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor

Author’s Full Name: Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr.

Background Research:

About Alexie:

Alexie is a member of the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene tribe and grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He attended Gonzaga University in 1985 and transferred to Washington State University in 1987 where he began writing poetry and short fiction.

Alexie suffered from health issues early on in his life which drove him to be somewhat introverted and inspired a life of reading and studying. Alexie’s childhood was far from perfect since, according to New York Times writer Timothy Egan, “Both his parents are alcoholics, one recovering, one not” (Egan). According to Egan, Sherman is the first member of his family to move away from the rez, as tribal members call it” (Egan).

Alexie’s writing inspired the “first Indian-produced, Indian-directed, Indian-written feature film” (Egan).

Today, Alexie is a poet, novelist, comedian (performer), and filmmaker and currently lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and two sons. 

Summary Paragraph:

Three significant ideas:

1.   In his work, Alexie touches on the issues that plague many American Indian reservations. Alexie writes about the hardships that many American Indians experience as a result of poverty like alcoholism, addiction, suicide, unemployment, and dysfunctional family life.

2.   Alexie's characters try to live their lives despite being the products of a marginalized population with very little hope of ever escaping their oppressive environments

3.   Alexie, like many Native writers and artists, uses his ability to share engaging stories as a way to transmit information about the world around him; thus, the oral tradition.

Three Key Moments in Plot:

1.   In "Every Litte Hurricane," Alexie writes about the violence that his character, Victor, witnesses regularly. Alexie uses vivid imagery to describe the drunken altercation that takes places between two of his uncles, Adolph and Arnold

2.   "This Is What It Means to Say Pheonix, Arizona" provides an intimate window into the lives of the two young Native men, Thomas and Victor, and how their unlikely friendship spawns through the tragedy of Victor's father's passing. This story is particularly touching because of the changes that Victor experiences while he is trying to process the loss of his father.

3.   In “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” Alexie shares the way in which Jimmy and Norma deal with Jimmy’s terminal cancer prognosis, thus allowing us to see the unique way in which these tribal members process the experience of loss and death. 

The Significant Ideas (Poetry):

1.   Alexie uses imagery, metaphors, similes, personification, and idioms to depict the world around him.

2.   His abrasive nature of writing and his witty one-liners all tell the story of a frustrated Native American individual trying to navigate the world in his own way.

3.   He combines traditional forms of storytelling and tribal traditions with formal writing conventions to create a hybrid style of writing, which ultimately contributes to the original and authentic voice from which he writes.

Oral Tradition:

I appreciate Alexie for the contribution he has made to American Indian literature and the oral tradition. I think he provides a valuable insight into the life of an American Indian while showcasing the multitude of talents that American Indians possess—particularly their talent for storytelling.  According to Alexie, ''Most of that stuff I write about happened to me or somebody I knew'' (Egan). Alexis is a new breed of Indigenous writers and has, in his own way, carried on the form of storytelling and oral tradition; he just possesses his own ideas and interpretations of what it means to be a modern Native American.

Literary devices:

Theme:

Alexie’s book contains several reoccurring themes including racism, love, hate, alcoholism, hopelessness, despair, courage, and resilience. Many of his chapters drag us, as readers, through a rollcoaster of emotions; worry, laughter, sadness, and awe. 

Voice:

If you look at the structure, syntax, punctuation, dialogue style and overall character development within Alexie's novel, you can see how he created a voice that is unconventional and authentic. He shattered typical writing styles in order to create his own voice. 

Additional literary devices:

Alexie uses Foreshadowing in "The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor" to imply that, even though Norma has left Jimmy, she will return to him because their love is stronger than any other emotion they are experiencing. 

He also uses hyperbole when describing this interaction in "The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore":

"While I still held that pistol to my temple, I used my other hand to flip Adrian off. Then I made a fist with my third hand to gather a little bit of courage or stupidity and wiped sweat from my forehead with my fourth hand" (43).

Digital Media:

https://youtu.be/uwcJaUaVfR0

This clip from Smoke Signals (1998) encompasses the conflicting nature of Native Americans trying to live off of the reservation. Victor and Thomas feel the pressure to conform to a circumscribed identity in which they're supposed to be stoic as if they've been "hunting buffalo," but Thomas shatters this misconception with the comment about his tribe never having been buffalo hunters. He shares that Thomas and Victor belong to a tribe that relied on fishing as their main source of sustenance. The irony is that anyone outside of their reservation is probably not aware of this fact. This video captures the essence of Alexie's complex characters in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. 

Sherman Alexie's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ShermanAlexieAuthor/

Work Cited:

Alexie, Sherman. Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. N.p.: Open Road Media, 2003. Print.

Egan, Timothy. "An Indian Without Reservations." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Jan. 1998. Web. 1 Apr. 2017.

"Sherman Alexie." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2017.

Signals, Smoke. "Chris Eyre." Film. Miramax Films (1998).