Comedy and Tragedy: A Well Known Friend on the Reservation
The intricate struggles of Native Americans on the reservation require unique and creative methods of delivery in order for the audience to understand. Sherman Alexie helps his broad audience realize the difficult and complex struggles of Native Americans on the reservation by justifying each story with varying degrees of humor. Alexie accomplishes this in, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto FistFight in Heaven”, a collection of short stories displaying the struggles and difficulties of Native Americans on the reservation. By analyzing the different perspectives of the characters, the level of power they have, and how comfortable those characters feel in certain situations, Sherman Alexie …show more content…
Alexie gives the readers 3 different characters who found a way to ruin their lives: Victor, Julius Windmaker, and Silas Sirius. (SP3) Each of these characters found a way to avoid being successful in life by finding a small thing or idea that would keep them down. Victor’s perspective is unique because Victor himself was once very talented at basketball, but found a way to sabotage his career then turned to alcohol, and only recently became sober. This allows victor the knowledge to critique and analyze current events on the reservation better than most characters. Victor is able to laugh and joke about the basketball player’s downfalls because humor “offers the opportunity to surmount the false distinctions that separate people and to reinforce the connections that demonstrate our unity and equality.” (Joseph L. Columbia) Victor was majorly talented at basketball and felt immortal until he went to a first aid meeting where the entire team looked at photo after photo of death and destruction until it seeped into their spirit and psyche, causing them to lose their immortality. The irony in the situation is that none of the injuries they looked at were sports related revealing that the Native-American basketball players wanted to self-destruct their careers. Sherman Alexie made sure to show the lack of optimism and hope within the reservation when victor said “It’s hard to be optimistic on the reservation. When a glass sits on a table here, people don’t wonder if it’s half filled or half empty. They just hope it’s good beer.” (Sherman Alexie Pg. 49) Sherman Alexie makes the whole lack of optimism and regret more intense with his use of humor within this story. When Adrian
The intricate struggles of Native Americans on the reservation require unique and creative methods of delivery in order for the audience to understand. Sherman Alexie helps his broad audience realize the difficult and complex struggles of Native Americans on the reservation by justifying each story with varying degrees of humor. Alexie accomplishes this in, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto FistFight in Heaven”, a collection of short stories displaying the struggles and difficulties of Native Americans on the reservation. By analyzing the different perspectives of the characters, the level of power they have, and how comfortable those characters feel in certain situations, Sherman Alexie …show more content…
Alexie gives the readers 3 different characters who found a way to ruin their lives: Victor, Julius Windmaker, and Silas Sirius. (SP3) Each of these characters found a way to avoid being successful in life by finding a small thing or idea that would keep them down. Victor’s perspective is unique because Victor himself was once very talented at basketball, but found a way to sabotage his career then turned to alcohol, and only recently became sober. This allows victor the knowledge to critique and analyze current events on the reservation better than most characters. Victor is able to laugh and joke about the basketball player’s downfalls because humor “offers the opportunity to surmount the false distinctions that separate people and to reinforce the connections that demonstrate our unity and equality.” (Joseph L. Columbia) Victor was majorly talented at basketball and felt immortal until he went to a first aid meeting where the entire team looked at photo after photo of death and destruction until it seeped into their spirit and psyche, causing them to lose their immortality. The irony in the situation is that none of the injuries they looked at were sports related revealing that the Native-American basketball players wanted to self-destruct their careers. Sherman Alexie made sure to show the lack of optimism and hope within the reservation when victor said “It’s hard to be optimistic on the reservation. When a glass sits on a table here, people don’t wonder if it’s half filled or half empty. They just hope it’s good beer.” (Sherman Alexie Pg. 49) Sherman Alexie makes the whole lack of optimism and regret more intense with his use of humor within this story. When Adrian