The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven Summary

In Sherman Alexie’s collection titled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, many characters in this collection of stories intellectually benefit one another from telling their own stories. Native Americans can retain their history and cultural customs this way. For instance, Thomas Builds-the-Fire enjoys telling stories that are often surreal and have historical and natural contexts. His stories give his listeners observation of Native American history and how their experience had varied through the years. Victor also enjoys telling stories but his are more realistic and desolate. They address modern life on the Spokane reservation. However, in “A Good Story,” the narrator, who is most likely Victor, tells a rather inspiriting story about friendship after his mother objects that he only tells depressing stories about modern Indian life. Tradition also plays a big role in the lives of characters such as Victor, Junior, and Thomas, whether or not they realize it. Thomas Builds-the-Fire and Norma Many Horses are very respectable towards their Spokane heritage. They both make a point of engaging in …show more content…
Thomas saw Victor stealing a horse, Junior saw Thomas dancing in the nude and Victor saw Junior singing. Each one of these visions were followed by an interlude described in the first person. After the effects of the drug wears off, Thomas tells Victor and Junior a story about three boys who take off their clothes and steal horses with ambition to find their true selves. He then suggests that the boys in the story are themselves, making Victor and Junior laugh and angering Thomas. The next day, Big Mom, the tribe’s spiritual leader, approaches Victor and vaguely tells him she knows the visions he saw. Big mom gives Victor a little drum and instructs him to beat it if he ever needs her