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Similarities Between The Lone Ranger And Tonto

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Housekeeping in Heaven with the Lone Ranger and Tonto

Every family has its stories. Some we tell and some we keep to ourselves yet, both create the story of who we are. Although the selections of Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven are at first glance completely different, on a deeper level the similarities run deep. While the main characters in Housekeeping are poor white females and Alexie’s characters are poor Native males from very different worlds, they both experience great loss and b find the resilience to continue even when faced with discrimination and hardship. From the very start of “Every Little Hurricane” beginning with the fight between Victor’s uncles, the struggle between familial love and hate is prevalent. Victor himself states “they had to be in love. …show more content…

Native American culture is rich with storytelling and Sherman Alexie shares plenty of them. Victor believes the stories of his ancestors warriors and gruesome defeats while facing the reality of his depressing now. In Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping , Lucille references and “for whatever reasons, our whole family was standoffish. This was the fairest description of or best qualities, and the kindest description of our worst faults.” This unfortunate story moulds the future of Ruthie, Lucille and Sylvie by not allowing others into their story when help is needed and creating stigmas within the community leading to tragedy.
Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven and Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping are undeniably two completely different stories and I’m sure the characters might even be offended by being compared to one another. However, when you look beyond the gender and color of skin to the deeper stories within, we are all not that

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