Ten Little Indians: Short Essay Strength lies in the differences, not in similarities” (Covey). As shown in the plots and characters in Lawyers League and Flight Patterns. Which we be discussed later on in the essay. Focusing on race, religion, importance of family, and the plots in general. To begin with is race, which is a major issue discussed in all of Sherman Alexie’s short stories in Ten Little Indians. Though maybe even more so in Flight Patterns and Lawyers League. Richard is a successful lawyer, who is African-American and Spokane Indian. He lets his two races define who he is, he can’t just view himself as Richard the lawyer, its Richard the lawyer whose African- American and Spokane. When Richard sees someone he may be interested
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Alas he shouldn’t let that be the be all end all, when deciding if it’s worth starting what could be a beautiful relationship with the woman in this story, Teresa. On the other hand there’s William in Flight Patterns where the issue of race is also discussed, though not in the same aspect. William focuses on race in the light of terrorism, on who you can and can’t trust. How others look at brown people funny in the airports, ever since 9/11 occurred. “William always scanned the airports and the airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism” (107). While Richard focuses on the negative about his race himself in Lawyers League, William focuses on the negatives of others races, for the most part in Flight Patterns. William falls under the category of stereotyping others without knowing them, though this stereotyping originates from his fear of an attack like 9/11 occurring again. William himself also feel the looks people give him in airports, he is a victim of stereotyping from others. “William himself was a little brown guy, so other travelers were always sniffing around him, but he smelled only of dove soap, Mennen deodorant, and sarcasm” (108). William is an average man, but because of his skin color people assume that he may be a terrorist. While William is not offended, it probably hurts even just a little …show more content…
In the story Lawyer’s League Richard cares greatly about his job and becoming the President of the United States of America. Which to be quite honest, is quite an unrealistic goal in life. When faced with the conflict of finding a lady he’s interested in, as discussed before, he does find a woman he’s interested in but pushes her away for a few reasons, one of these being that becoming the president is much more important. She contrasts with his dream job, by pushing away any chance of a relationship he is slowly driving away any chance of having a family, or a spouse to care for. William is quite the opposite he is married and has a daughter, who he cares very dearly for, which is expressed throughout the story. Such as when he talks to his daughter about terrorist possibly hijacking the airplane he would be on. “I’d tell them I was your father,” he’d said to her before he left for his last business trip. “And they’d stop being bad” (107). He lies to his daughter in order to comfort her, and even though his lie is easily seen through by the daughter, it’s not a harmful lie, as he is only protecting her. At the end of the story, it is his family that’s on his mind and making sure they know that he’s okay, as to not worry them. When it comes to family values and the importance of having a family William’s and Richard’s values contrast each other
Alas he shouldn’t let that be the be all end all, when deciding if it’s worth starting what could be a beautiful relationship with the woman in this story, Teresa. On the other hand there’s William in Flight Patterns where the issue of race is also discussed, though not in the same aspect. William focuses on race in the light of terrorism, on who you can and can’t trust. How others look at brown people funny in the airports, ever since 9/11 occurred. “William always scanned the airports and the airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism” (107). While Richard focuses on the negative about his race himself in Lawyers League, William focuses on the negatives of others races, for the most part in Flight Patterns. William falls under the category of stereotyping others without knowing them, though this stereotyping originates from his fear of an attack like 9/11 occurring again. William himself also feel the looks people give him in airports, he is a victim of stereotyping from others. “William himself was a little brown guy, so other travelers were always sniffing around him, but he smelled only of dove soap, Mennen deodorant, and sarcasm” (108). William is an average man, but because of his skin color people assume that he may be a terrorist. While William is not offended, it probably hurts even just a little …show more content…
In the story Lawyer’s League Richard cares greatly about his job and becoming the President of the United States of America. Which to be quite honest, is quite an unrealistic goal in life. When faced with the conflict of finding a lady he’s interested in, as discussed before, he does find a woman he’s interested in but pushes her away for a few reasons, one of these being that becoming the president is much more important. She contrasts with his dream job, by pushing away any chance of a relationship he is slowly driving away any chance of having a family, or a spouse to care for. William is quite the opposite he is married and has a daughter, who he cares very dearly for, which is expressed throughout the story. Such as when he talks to his daughter about terrorist possibly hijacking the airplane he would be on. “I’d tell them I was your father,” he’d said to her before he left for his last business trip. “And they’d stop being bad” (107). He lies to his daughter in order to comfort her, and even though his lie is easily seen through by the daughter, it’s not a harmful lie, as he is only protecting her. At the end of the story, it is his family that’s on his mind and making sure they know that he’s okay, as to not worry them. When it comes to family values and the importance of having a family William’s and Richard’s values contrast each other