In the movie, “Smoke Signals”, and the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, both by Sherman Alexie, the protagonists got through friendship, hope, and loss while they live life on an “Indian” Reservation. Arnold and Rowdy (from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) and Thomas and Victor (from “Smoke Signals”) need their friends to help them get through the everyday struggle of poverty. They also need lots of hope to get through good times and bad, and to hope that when they come home their family will still be there. Finally, they experience lots of loss, from losing family and friends to drunk drivers, to losing your best friend after fighting.
Near the beginning/middle of the book, Arnold says, “I wanted to tell …show more content…
“After high school, my sister just froze. Didn’t go to college, didn’t get a job. Didn’t do anything. Kind of sad, I guess.” (26) mary never really got the life that most people do, although many people on the reservation never get the best life possible. Most people on the reservation ended up drunk and poor. A chance to have a great life is rare. Mary experiences the loss of living life to the fullest. In the movie, Victor loses his dad after he left him standing in the driveway several years back. He never really had the connection that a lot of kids to have with their dad. Arnold (the dad) was always drunk which caused him to never be around. When he lost his dad, he threw his ashes into the river and screamed, letting out all that anger bottled up inside. No one really had a good relationship with their fathers on the reservation, because there was a lot of drunk people and many of them died. Victor has to learn to be tough and accept the fact that he will never have his dad again. At the end of the movie, Thomas narrates this poem: “How do we forgive our Fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all. Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers? For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning, for shutting doors, for speaking through walls or never speaking or never being silent? Do we forgive our Father in our age or in theirs or their deaths saying it to them or not saying it? If we forgive our Fathers what is left?” When Thomas reads it, Victor has just lost his dad. The poem is about forgiving your fathers after they are
Near the beginning/middle of the book, Arnold says, “I wanted to tell …show more content…
“After high school, my sister just froze. Didn’t go to college, didn’t get a job. Didn’t do anything. Kind of sad, I guess.” (26) mary never really got the life that most people do, although many people on the reservation never get the best life possible. Most people on the reservation ended up drunk and poor. A chance to have a great life is rare. Mary experiences the loss of living life to the fullest. In the movie, Victor loses his dad after he left him standing in the driveway several years back. He never really had the connection that a lot of kids to have with their dad. Arnold (the dad) was always drunk which caused him to never be around. When he lost his dad, he threw his ashes into the river and screamed, letting out all that anger bottled up inside. No one really had a good relationship with their fathers on the reservation, because there was a lot of drunk people and many of them died. Victor has to learn to be tough and accept the fact that he will never have his dad again. At the end of the movie, Thomas narrates this poem: “How do we forgive our Fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all. Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers? For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning, for shutting doors, for speaking through walls or never speaking or never being silent? Do we forgive our Father in our age or in theirs or their deaths saying it to them or not saying it? If we forgive our Fathers what is left?” When Thomas reads it, Victor has just lost his dad. The poem is about forgiving your fathers after they are