Category: Sherman Alexie

The fastest man ever to exist is Sherlock Holmes, he only needs five seconds to read a person. Still, he cannot read the journey of a person. Character development is the colours that fill paintings, which Sherman Alexie did brilliantly. The book is written in the perspective of a teenage Indian boy, Junior, living on a reservation. The story follows Junior’s adventure when he moves to a school full of white kids, Wellpinit. Alongside of his adventures, he slowly begins to change, which ultimately led to a compact, funny and inspiring book. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie establishes character development through anaphora, imagery and tone.

Sherman cleverly uses a special pattern of repetitive words, anaphora, to show character growth. Here, in the beginning, we can see that the anaphora’s Junior uses in his diary were all negative, self-deprecating and has a down putting tone. An example is when Junior describes himself to have “Ten more than usual. Ten more than normal. Then teeth past human” (Alexie 2). Whereas compared to the end of the book, we can see that the anaphora Junior used portrays more of a peaceful, heart-warming and mature tone. Alexie describes, “And he hugged me. And he hugged my mother. And she had tears in her eyes. And she held my face in her hands” (Alexie 216). Throughout the story, Junior slowly adjusts the anaphora he uses, which indicates that he develops into a more mature character. In the end, the Sherman uses anaphora to close off his adventures and to indicate a new Junior. “And the tribe of teenage boys…And the tribe beloved sons… And the tribe of boys who really missed their best friends” (Alexie 217).

In addition to anaphora, Sherman also detailed parts of Junior’s diary with imagery to further accentuate character development. In the exposition of the book when Junior was still a normal kid on the reservation, the imagery portrayed there seemed mindless, weak-willed and lost: “My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie 31). Junior describes hopes and dreams. Which looking at it seems pleasant, until the end of the sentence. Alexie writes, “Floated up into a mushroom cloud” (Alexie 31). A mushroom cloud has a similar appearance to the explosion of an atomic bomb, usually giving off a negative vibe. Subsequently, when junior first arrives at Wellpinit he already defines himself as different. Junior describes the students “I could see blue veins running through their skin like rivers” (Alexie 56). This page described Junior’s first day in Wellpinit. In which he starts off with another negative imagery. Junior writes about how he sees the white kids in Wellpinit. From knowledge, we know that Junior gets discriminated for his colour. Now adding on with differentiated skin tones could further down put himself. Then moving to the end of the book Junior uses imagery differently “We played until the moon was huge and golden and perfect in the dark sky” (Alexie 230). The book ends with Junior and his best friend Rowdy playing basketball. Where the imagery Junior describes seems picture-perfect. Unlike the previous imageries, this one expressed no doubt and worries. All in all, looking at the imagery broadly, we can see that it shifts from self-deprecating feel to a harmonious feel. The progression of the imagery Junior compose shows us how Junior slowly matures as a character.

Along with using anaphora and imagery, Alexie also used tone throughout the novel to illuminate character development. In the exposition, we can see that most of what Junior writes are self-deprecating. Alexie writes, “If you’re fourteen years old … and you’re still stuttering and lisping, then you become the biggest retard in the world” (Alexie 4). Not only that he writes about how he suffers from brain damage. Additionally, his physical appearances make him feel insecure: “But my hands and feet were huge… And my skull was enormous” (Alexie 3). All of this expresses a tone of failure. Another few chapters in, when Mr P gives Junior insights to what hope looks like, the tone expressed by Junior is confusion. Both Junior and his parents were hesitant about transferring to Reardan. The tone there expresses concern and uncertainty. ““I want to go to Reardan,” I said again … it seemed as read as saying, “I want to fly to the moon”” (Alexie 46). Eventually, after making up his mind, Junior leaves for Reardan. However, he feels guilty about betraying his best friend, and his clanmates. After Junior told Rowdy, his best friend, about his situation, “he coughed and turned away from me” (Alexie 52). Rowdy is upset about Junior leaving, perhaps even angry, “My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been best friends” (Alexie 52). Skipping ahead to the conclusion of the book, Sherman portrayed a happy ending. It seems hopeful and peaceful as a new and confident protagonist emerged. Bit by bit his confidence builds back up, “I would always love Rowdy. And I would always miss him, too. Just as I would always love and miss my grandmother, my big sister, and Eugene” (Alexie 230).

Love, hatred, death, feelings, elements that are all vital to a character. Alexie composed all of that into a single book. Still, the most intriguing part of the book was how he toyed with figurative language to implement the development of our protagonist, Junior. Ranging from the way he repeats phrases, to describing things in vivid details and setting a tone for the reader brought the book to a completed end. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie establishes characterization through anaphora, imagery and tone. Alexie offers a book full of alluring pages that will seize your thoughts and complete it.

Works cited

1. Alexie, Sherman, 1966-. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” New York: Little, Brown, 2007.

Humour is a very distinctive feature in Native American contemporary writings. Humour can be distinguished as the Native American seriousness, naturalness and the capacity to state and feel the reality of things in their life. Humour is occasionally the best weapon of defense for the indigenous literary characters. In addition, it is a helpful way to handle the issues of injustice, racism, and discrimination that they confronted. So, humour is a rather popular style which the contemporary Native American writers take into consideration in their works. Currently, Sherman Alexie is the best humourist in Indian American literature.

What characterizes Sherman Alexie most is his particular type of humour that pervades his work with irony and sarcasm. His occasional performance of a stand – up comedy is the proof that he is really talented. Humour and his way of telling stories together make Alexie’s works well read by the readers as a result of his way of humour and storytelling altogether.

According to Alexie humour is the powerful and positive force in the world. Humour is the only way that makes humans to laugh in sad situations. For Alexie laughing is the symbol of health. Healthy people are laughing but if they do not laugh it means they are in a special health problem. In an interview with Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art Alexie reveals his attitude about humour:

It’s not desperate. That’s one of the real cultural gaps – Indians are funny. It’s just funny. Humor is the most powerful force in the world. It’s a positive force. Being able to laugh at sad things is a sign of health. If somebody is not laughing, that’s when they’re in trouble. (Alexie, 1996: 188)

Alexie refuses to write about sacred things as he affirmed: ‘I don’t write about the sacred,’ (Alexie, 1996: 187) since he designates more expected how Indians live in the modern world. Accordingly, in his works, humour is identically essential, because he habitually writes about things that are not funny. He has a rather special penchant to describe negative things in his writings in the ridiculous and occasionally darkest detail. This is perhaps perceptible in Alexie’s Indian Killer, the thriller is hateful, violent and angry that he wrote so that to demonstrate another powerful novel with the respect to humour (Trtílková, 2013: 13-20).

Humour is Alexie’s green card in his writings, as he responded in an interview with Nelson, ‘Humour is my green card’ (Nelson, 2010: 7) The most fundamental characteristic of Alexie is humour. In the face of awful conditions humour is the only weapon for Alexie in both first and second collections of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993) and The Toughest Indian in the World (2000). The combination of both the trenchant irony and laughter often produces the use of humour or dark humour, which are directed to illogical predication upon such problems as alcoholism, unemployment, drug abuse, poverty, the uncertain future, diabetes, and windswept cultural traditions, in Alexie’s works.

Alexie uses such techniques as satire, parody, mockery, farce, and exaggeration, in order to form dark humour and irony. In addition, this is an impressive strategy to demonstrate historical trauma and present circumstances of discrimination which is shaped by white hegemony and carry struggles produced by assimilation. Such edgy, disruptive, even liberating humour also promotes self-actualization and social action, providing a means of survival amid often-bewildering and absurd conditions (Jeff Berglund, 2010: 25). In addition to this kind of tragicomic laughter, Alexie discloses the dominant culture’s empty promises and untruthful ideologies by way of beginning a conversation with readers on problematic issues and stereotypes.

The tragicomic technique was used by American dark humourists from 1950s to 1970s. They used this technique as an answer to a supposed, confusing state of absurdity shaped by worlds of post-atomic, postmodern, and post-Holocaust. The novelist-satirist has to find a way of his own to convey the message. So, Alexie finds dark humour to uncover the illogicality of cultural discrimination, the community fragmentation, and a loss of rituals and myths.

Sherman Alexie wrote “Indian Education”, and does a splendid job at showing different types of rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, logos, symbolism, irony, and even hyperbole. Even though Alexie faced many struggles because he was different, he still had the strength and willpower to receive a good education and he uses several rhetorical devices to help show his life over the years. The story takes place in an Indian Reservation, as well as a predominantly white school outside of the reservation. This memoir shows what life was like for an Indian boy going to school and being bullied. It shows how Alexie overcame his obstacles to be someone greater than expected of him. It tells about how Alexie proves the Indian stereotypes wrong.

In “Indian Education”, he talks about his life during his years of schooling. His life was not easy, because his parents were the typical Indian parents that drank and cried all the time. He went to school outside of the Indian reservation. He wanted the education that most in his tribe would not get. Alexie’s audience could be aimed toward Indian people that have suffered through racism or it could be aimed toward white people that don’t understand Indian culture. His persona is one that shows strength and willpower. He had to have the strength to get through school. Sherman Alexie is someone who has the authority to write about the struggles of being an Indian student in school, because he was one of those Indian students. He had to live through the racist comments and stereotypical thoughts of other people around him. For example, his teacher criticized him in second grade for having long hair. She told Alexie’s parents to cut his hair or keep him home from class. His parents came to school and flaunted there long braids across the teacher’s desk. She said “indian, indian, indian.” Alexie responded with “ Yes I am, I am Indian. Indian, I am.” (Alexie) He was strong and I was very proud of his ethnicity. All of these are examples of ethos, the ethical appeal.

Another rhetorical device that is used is pathos, which is the emotional appeal. The entire and short story evokes emotion, but here are a few examples throughout the story. In seventh grade, he talked about the white girl that he loved. Alexie ends up kissing the white girl and that was his way of saying goodbye to his tribe because it is a form or betrayal. He says “after that, no one spoke to me for another five hundred years.” which is yet another rhetorical device that Alexie use, because obviously they didn’t stop talking to him for 500 years.(Lone Ranger) Alexie says in the short story that He stated that she was raped by her foster-parent father. When the newspaper wrote about it, it did not mention anything about their color of skin. The newspaper had said “Just Indians being Indians”. (Alexie) A Juxtaposition is shown when Alexie says “I sat back and watched them grow skinny from self-pity. But we ate it day after day and grew skinny from self-pity.” Alexie says that the girls at his school suffer from anorexia and bulimia. He would ask them for food because they did not have enough as a family. His mother would stand in long lines to receive canned beef that the dogs would not eat. Alexie wants the audience to show sympathy and empathy toward ethnic children in the school system.

Alexie also appeals to the logical side of things (logos). In fourth grade, his teacher said to him “You should be a doctor when you grow up.” (Alexie) Alexie asked his teacher why he should become a doctor. His teacher responded to him by saying that he could really help out the people in his tribe if he become a doctor. That year, he would go home and talk to his reflection in the mirror and say “Dr. Victor to the emergency room.” (Alexie) Dr. Victor is a symbol of the need for someone to heal the tribe. Alexie became as successful as he did because of that teacher that saw something great in him. And because his teacher saw something good in him, he saw something good in himself as well.

Alexie graduates and he is at the top of his class. He looks at his indian peers that can barely read and he realizes that all they are going to do is go to the tavern every other night to drink. He even says “Why should we organize a reservation high school reunion? My graduating class has a reunion every weekend at the Powwow Tavern.” (Alexie) Alexie uses yet another form of juxtaposition by saying “I tried to remain stoic for the photographers as I look toward the future.” and “ They smile for the photographer as they look back toward tradition.” (Alexie) Alexie states that he pretended to look happy for his pictures, but in reality, he does not know what he was going to do with his life. Right after he admits that, he says that everyone else smiles because they have no doubt about their lives. They will follow the Indian tradition ways. They will end up living the exact lives their parents lived and that does not scare them at all. That’s the difference between Alexie and the rest of his class, Alexie was very scared of becoming exactly like his parents and that’s why he pursued a better education.

Alexie has to deal with all of this first hand. He did not need evidence to support his claims. He lived it; this was his life. No evidence is greater than first-hand evidence. He had no idea what was next in his life after graduation. He wrote “ The bright students are shaken, frightened, because they don’t know what comes next.” (Alexie) Alexie never knew what he truly wanted, all he knew was that he wanted to prove the stereotypes wrong. He wanted everyone to know that even someone from his background could leave the reservation and become successful in life.

Sherman Alexie is a Native American. When he starts to attend literature classes at his university and after that, he found that he liked it. “He found his life her” Professor Alex Kuo. After that, Sherman started writing

Known For

• Novelist
• Short story Writer
• Poet
• Film Maker
• Performer

Themes

Alexie usually explores despair, poverty, violence, and alcoholism in the lives of Native Americans, both inside and outside protected areas in his work.

The main characters in most of his literary works represent a constant struggle with themselves and their own sense of powerlessness in white American society. The novel brightened the cause of Sherman Alexie of wit and humor.

Poetry

After 1 year that he graduated from his college, Alexie received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship In 1995, Alexie was awarded the Chad Walsh Poetry Prize by the Beloit Poetry Journal In 1992, he began his career with the publication of the first two poems “ I Would Steal Horses” and “ The Business of Fancydancing”. The Business of Fancydancing was well – received, selling over 10,000 copies

In this poem, Alexie uses humor to show contemporary Indian struggles when booking.

Short Stories

“The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” in 1933, was Sherman Alexie’s first published prose work. The book consists of a series of short stories that are connected together. Several prominent characters are explored, and they have been featured in later works by Alexie.

“Ten Little Indian” (2004) is a collection of nine short stories set in and around Seattle. In this collection, Alexie “ challenges the stereotype that whites have Native Americans and at the same time shows that Native Americans and at the same time shows that Native American characters come to terms with their own identities”. There are all of the short stories that he has written throughout the years

Novel

Reservation Blues was his first novel in 1995. Alexis took the character from his previous short stories. Thomas Builds – the – Fire, Victor Joseph, and Junior Plotkin was the character in the stories who have grown up together on the Spokane Indian reservation. They were the teenagers in the short story collection.. Now, they are adult men in their thirties. Some of them are now musicians and in a band together

He received an American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize. Indian Killer is a serial that the killer tries to hunt and scalping a white man. In the 1990s, Alexie planned to direct a film version of Indian Killer, but the film was never made

Award

He won the World Poetry Bout Association champion for four consecutive years. He becomes a guest editor of the literary journal Plowshares. During the same year ​that he was awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award for War Dances in 2010, he was awarded the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award

Work Cited

1. Kuiper, Kathleen. “Sherman Alexie.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Oct. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sherman-Alexie.
2. ‘Sherman Alexie’. Authors and Artists for Young Adults. 85. 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
3. Sanders, Ken (June 6, 1992). ‘The Business of Fancydancing – Stories and Poems (1992) BOOK APPRAISAL; Ken Sanders Rare Books, Salt Lake City, UT’. Antiques Roadshow.
4. Ettlinger, Marian. ‘Sherman Alexie’. Salem Press. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
5. ‘Sherman Alexie’. Authors and Artists for Young Adults. 85. 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
6. “Reservation Blues.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Dec. 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_Blues.
7. ‘ShermanAlexie.com: Indian Killer’. Fallsapart.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
8. Associated Press. “Alexie Film Wins Sundance Awards ‘Smoke Signals,’ Honored At Movie Festival, Based On Native American Author’s Story.” Spokesman.com, The Spokesman-Review, 8 Oct. 2011, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/jan/25/alexie-film-wins-sundance-awards-smoke-signals/.