Sherman Alexie's This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona

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Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” not only tells the story of two men forming a bond and taking care of each other, but it also tells a story of life for Native Americans. Alexie’s life experiences, including living with an alcoholic father, living in poverty, and leaving the reservation for an education are all reflected in this short story, revealing that life for a Native American is not easy or satisfying. Alexie pours his own life experiences into most of his writing and this is true for “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” as well. By using his own life as inspiration for his writing, Alexie allows for others to know the hardships experienced by Native Americans, primarily demonstrating his belief …show more content…
Violence surrounded him and like most American Indians, Alexie’s family lived in poverty. Health complications, which doctors did not expect him to survive, left him with an abnormally large head that led to teasing from other children. This life is reflected in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” Thomas is considered strange and an outcast by many members of the reservation. Rather than being treated as an equal, he is seen as different and is often ignored altogether by other Native Americans. Just as Native Americans are discriminated against by the white people outside of the reservation, the Native Americans discriminate against their own. Alexie’s short story demonstrates that oppression of Indian people does not only come from outside the Indian …show more content…
He uses his writing as a way to show this belief and also as a means to reach out to other Native Americans in a way that can be very personal. By writing and by using various other art forms, Alexie is better able to connect to his people and better able to show them that they all need to take care of each other and lift each other up. But he also wants to challenge them. Instead of writing for escapism purposes, Alexie wants to write what will “challenge, anger, or possibly offend” (qtd. in Cline 197). He can challenge Native Americans to stand up for themselves, to break free of stereotypes, or to get an education. He can inspire others to seek out their true potential and to go beyond what is expected of them. Alexie’s writing, not just in this short story but in all of his work, displays the life of a Native American in today’s society. In an article about his novel Indian Killer, Alexie states:
There are plenty of Indian writers out there doing this Four-Direction-Corn-Polken-Eagle-Feather crap. We don’t live that way. What we’re dealing with on our reservation is uranium pollution, alcoholism, suicide. We’re worried about a job, about eating, about political corruption–just like everybody else

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