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Symbolism In Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals

362 Words2 Pages

In Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, the central theme revolves around the idea of fire and ash coming into play relating to the main characters Thomas and Victor. At the very beginning of the film, Thomas is thrown through a window and out of a burning house where his parents ended up dying. He gets caught by a fellow Native American, Arnold, and is returned to his grandmother. The narrator then foreshadows the two children, one being the child thrown from the fire, Thomas, and the other being Arnold’s son, Victor, essentially being related to a fire, one being the actual flame while the other is the ash. Ultimately, they are nearly polar opposites, but go hand in hand with one another. Thomas explains this symbolism by saying, “you know there

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