Victor is an Indian living on a reservation in the Northwestern Unites States, he just lost his job and receives the grave news of his father’s passing, and needs to get to Phoenix to get his father’s body back to the reservation. The tribal council is in a financial crisis and is only able to give one hundred dollars, as he waits in line to cash the check he happens to see his cousin Thomas, an usual fellow who is known for his stories that no one listens to. Thomas approaches Victor with the proposal of giving him the money he needs to get to Arizona, but on the terms he gets to join him on his journey. Victor’s feelings toward his own cousin are more noticeable when he does not accept the offer right away, showing how the cousin’s relationship …show more content…
The two cousins’ friendship can be seen when looking back on a memory of when they were ten years old watching the fireworks together and Thomas was telling Victor a story that ended with “when they got back, all their friends cheered, and their parents’ eyes shown bright with pride, you were very brave everyone said to the two Indian boys [Alexie 4]”. Growing up on a small reservation it is safe to presume all the children around the same age grew up together, and knew one another, especially if the two children were related. Thomas is even including Victor in his fairy tale legend of two Indian boys wanting to be warriors, which shows at one time they were really close, and enjoyed each other’s company. As more memories are shared, and the two cousins get older, the distance between them starts to show. When they were fifteen, Victor was really drunk and beat Thomas for no reason at all, as all the other Indian boys stood around and watched [Alexia 4]. The beating of Thomas shows that they are growing apart and their friendship is distancing, however they are still family and both Indians growing up on a reservation, which might provide some insight for why Thomas feels the need to help his cousin out. Even though they might not be friends or even associate with one another, they are family and grew up with the same traditions and culture. Family ties along with their Native American roots makes Thomas feel obligated to help out his cousin, and put the past behind
This caused many conflicts, but in the end, it reflected who Tom was as a person. Beginning Thomas’s training in school, he did not enjoy it at all. The new Ute ways made him feel like a replica of an Indian. He tried running away multiple times, but his guardians would always somehow catch him, till one day where he had finally escaped.
Thomas is the leader of the rebel of the rebel group. He should courage and guidance through the novel. He is very caring and worries about his friends. “Yeah. I cant quit worrying about my other friends.
In chapter 3 Thomas sits under a tree trying to wrap his mind around the situation when Alby tries to comfort him, he only becomes more scared. Thomas let
Another turning point in which McCandless lost trust in his father occurs during the revealing of his father’s secret, second family after questioning a number of old family friends. This pushes McCandless past his limit, and results into him rejecting his
On several occasions later in the story, the influence the grandfather has impacted his own relationships with his family and
Thomas has grown up to be a nerd with an optimistic attitude and a talkative storyteller. Victor on the other hand grew up to be quite pessimistic, having that his father left him and his mother at a young age. Victor comes home to his mother with news that his father had just died and he must go to retrieve his body. Thomas offers Victor money for the trip under one condition, Victor brings him with him too Thomas agrees and they set out on journey to go get Arnold.
He thinks that staying loyal to a dead King is idiotic. For example, Thomas states, “In return, they didn’t ask for land, only a promise that we’d lend a hand and stand with them if they fought against oppressors, and revolution is messy but now is the time to stand. Stand with our brothers as they fight against tyranny.” (Miranda). This shows that Thomas is eager to help France, and wants to hold his side of the agreement up.
In the story, “Seventh Grade, “ Victor, the main character, learns that with hard work and dedication you will reach your goal, through his embarrassing moments on his first day of seventh grade. In paragraph 24, Victor is asked a question and he answers Teresa, then all of the girls in his class giggled because they figured that Victor has a crush on Teresa. An example of this is, at one point in the text Victor had met up with an old friend he was doing a weird scowl thing he had seen models do, so later on Victor had tried it and a girl looked at him and actually noticed him so he said to himself in his head maybe it does work maybe it really does. When it was lunch it was like Victor was in a maze when he was looking for Teresa, when
Mimeomia—as defined by The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is "the frustration of knowing how easily you fit into a stereotype, even if you never intended to, even if it’s unfair, even if everyone else feels the same way" (Koeing). Often individuals grow a sense of shame towards their culture. Said individuals will try to minimize or shield their cultural involvement to hide what they are so humiliated by—their bones, their blood. In the short story, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Victor, a Native American who has recently found out his father has passed away and how he must journey with his cousin, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, to collect his father’s remains and property. By navigating through
Thomas continues to have a quirky personality that makes him seem slightly crazy and silly. As the movie progressed the audience started to learn that the stories that Thomas told were mostly exaggerations if not complete lies. The movie seems to look at storytelling as a blur of truth and lies. Thomas himself says at some point in the movie that he is looking for both truth and lies. This can be a metaphor for the oral tradition that was especially used in Native American cultures.
In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, the author Sherman Alexie presents the diverse characteristics between two boys, Victor and Thomas. Victor and Thomas used to be childhood friends. That is until Victor developed the view that others would see Thomas as. Victor thought of Thomas as “the crazy storyteller who talked to dogs and cars, who listened to the wind and pine trees” (Alexie 811). Thomas was his own person who did not let other people’s opinions about him change the person he was.
Writer Sherman Alexie has a knack of intertwining his own problematic biographical experience with his unique stories and no more than “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” demonstrates that. Alexie laced a story about an Indian man living in Spokane who reflects back on his struggles in life from a previous relationship, alcoholism, racism and even the isolation he’s dealt with by living off the reservation. Alexie has the ability to use symbolism throughout his tale by associating the title’s infamy of two different ethnic characters and interlinking it with the narrator experience between trying to fit into a more society apart from his own cultural background. However, within the words themselves, Alexie has created themes that surround despair around his character however he illuminates on resilience and alcoholism throughout this tale.
In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelly, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature. The creature and Victor Frankenstein have conflicts between each other, which is why Robert Walton is necessary to help the reader relate to Frankenstein, by having many of the same attributes are Victor Frankenstein does. Robert Walton has many similar traits to Victor Frankenstein, ultimately helping the reader greater relate to Dr. Frankenstein. Even though Frankenstein is viewed as a monster himself and Walton is considered a normal person.
Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11).
These stories help Native people know who they are and form their identities as a tribal person. The title story, “Storyteller”, is an identity-seeking journey for all of the characters. At first, the girl is ignorant of who she is and because of this has no story she can tell. She finds it hard to navigate her place in society. When she goes to school, the girl comes into conflict with the “Gussucks” as they attempt to destroy her tribal identity with their white lifestyle and language.