Loss Of Culture In Sherman Alexie's 'Indian Education'

Junior is a young American Indian who had grown up on a reservation in the western United States. As he grew older, he realized that living on the reservation would lead him nowhere. His only chance of hope at a better life is to leave “the Rez”. Sherman Alexie perfectly captures the culture of an American Indian in his novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, by introducing white culture by sending Junior to Reardan High School. Junior’s experience in Reardan allows him to draw conclusions about his own culture and Alexie has surely done research on American Indian culture.

The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is not simply written. The author Sherman Alexie, uses several words like articulate, hormonal, and decrepit which displays that the novel could be read by people of all ages. This novel is wonderfully written so that people of every socioeconomic status can relate to real-world problems like poverty, racism, death and substance abuse. Alexie uses simple language to convey the thoughts that are actually inside people’s minds. For instance, in the first chapter of the book, the author introduces Arnold to the world (Alexie, 2007).

The novel Reservation Blues, written by Sherman Alexie reveals different struggles encountered by the Native Americans on the Spokane Indian Reservation through the use of history, traditions, and values. Thomas Builds-the-Fire, a pureblood Indian, forms a band with his childhood acquaintances Victor Joseph and Junior Polatkin called Coyote Springs. Alexie uses a variety of scenes and personal encounters between characters and their dialogue to portray the meaning of tribal identity throughout the novel. A cultures goal is to prove their identity and be superior to one another; The American culture has achieved dominance through white hegemony while the Spokane American Indian tribe is in a battle of oppression struggling to preserve their tribal identity. Spokane Native Americans are very passionate about their tribal identities yet are envious of the power that the white hegemony holds against them, leading them to their depression.

Years of being mistreated and living in poverty from generations to generations, engraves the harsh memories into the Indians from the early ages of childhood. Alexie provides the reader with brutal memories that Wright and Sherman, record company agents, have of the harming of the Indians: “Wright looked at Coyote Springs. He saw their Indian faces. He saw the faces of millions of Indians, beaten, scarred by smallpox and frostbite, split open by bayonets and bullets. He looked at his own white hands and saw the blood stains there” (244).

At St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School, Saul see’s the lonely world, which crams on him like a black hole with no light, however creates a determination for him to stay strong. As he is expeditiously thrown in to the vast world of a different religion he quickly realizes, “They called it a school, but it was never that” (79) … “There were no grades or examinations. The only test was our ability to endure” (79). The emotions and perspectives present in each quote signify the feelings of Saul towards the school and define the school to be unnerving and painful for the Indians living there, however they also show that Saul knows his expectations and is strong enough to tolerate the torture.

Despite the negative stereotype of American Indians, the objections and disapproval of fellow Natives, and the criticism of others, Sherman Alexie went on to become a successful writer that has inspired many. Alexie overcame many obstacles that would have deterred him from his goal, but he was able to remain steadfast and continue on in his pursuit of writing. As a result, he has published many literary works that include several short stories, poems, and a variety of novels. He allows his culture to seep into his writing, and continues to inspire young American Indians who also desire the path of knowledge.

Smoke Signals is one of the most touching films of the 1990’s, based on Sherman Alexie’s short story, This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. Although it is not a standard Western film, but one can learn much about American Indians’ life as it is a film created and acted by them. The indigenous characters of the film are not represented as the typical Western film’s American Indians, but the story represents indigenous life in a natural way, and gives a contemporary image to the viewer of them as the new generation American Indians, who grew up in Native American boarding schools, speak the English language well, and white people started to convert them into the Christian religion. The well-known stereotypes about their roots and lifestyle appear in a hidden, humorous way with the help of symbols that usually refers to their past; and do not appear in an easy, clear way, as it is hard to understand without any background information about Native Americans. In this paper I would like to search for the symbols of the film, analyse them, and try to understand the historical or even political background of these motifs, which pervades American Indian’s life, and can help us understand their spirituality that is deeply rooted in their culture.

Faced with many obstacles from poverty to racial stereotypes, Junior must override them if he is to make his life better than that of fellow Indians. Interestingly, rather than letting the obstacles hold him back Junior understands that his destiny is in his own hands and he must celebrate who he is even if it means fighting. In the end, we see a boy who have managed to overcome all hardships to get to the top, even if it means making tough choices such as changing schools, therefore is could be seen that race and stereotypes only made Junior

Sherman Alexie’s What You Pawn I Will Redeem, examines a number of topics affecting the American Indian community through the narrator of the story, Jackson Jackson. Jackson Jackson uses a particular rhetoric to appeal to logos, ethos, and pathos. The story follows a clear plot line and resolution, such as tales of knights in shining armor, contributing to it’s logical consistency. Meanwhile, the story’s narrative is nearly script-like in fashion, allowing the audience to observe scenes as bystanders rather than search for credibility of the character.

In Indian Horse, the protagonist, Saul Indian Horse, experiences profound grief throughout his life. As a young Ojibwe boy, he witnesses the traumatic loss of his family and community due to the ravages of colonization and the residential school system in Canada. This loss generates a deep sense of grief that impacts Saul's identity, spirituality, and mental well-being. He grapples with the painful memories and struggles to come to terms with the trauma of his past, leading to self-destructive behaviors as a coping mechanism. Saul's grief is palpable and pervasive, permeating every aspect of his life, as he tries to make sense of his identity

When his second grade teacher calls him “indian, indian, indian,” Victor says, “Yes, I am. I am Indian. Indian, I am” (Alexei 173). The conversation portrays parallelism in that Victor’s repetition echoes the way his teacher repeats “Indian”. Alexei’s use of a capitalization change portrays Victor’s desire to identify as Indian while the white community tries to assimilate him.

Sherman Alexie writes the story “Indian Education” using a deadpan tone to build and connect the years of the narrator 's life together in an ironic way. Alexie is able to utilize irony through the use of separate, short sections within the story. The rapid presentation of events, simple thoughts, and poetic points made within the story enable the reader to make quick connections about the narrator’s life to draw more complex realizations. The art that Alexie uses to write this very short story is poetic in nature through the meaning and structure of his writing. By the fact that the reader can draw deeper conclusions about the narrator 's life from Alexie’s writing is evident that his writing is poetic.

In Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, Alexie’s father’s love for books grew to make his self-love books ending up in Alexie teaching himself how to read. Alexie describes the stereotypes and what is expected of Indian children and how Indian children were expected to basically have no knowledge Many lived up to those expectations inside the classroom but invalidated them on the outside. While other children were doing this, Alexie’s father was one of the few Indians on the reservation who went to Catholic School on purpose and was also an devoted reader. Alexie grew up around books. His father had a strong love for books as he bought them by the pound from pawn shops, goodwill and the salvation army.

Reading Gilgamesh was important because it gives the reader insight and an understanding of what was important to the people who lived during the time that Gilgamesh was written. It also allows us to see how things have changed from what we are used to reading to what we could have been reading before. Repetition in a story can sometimes seem a little annoying to the reader. However, I think it could be a very important characteristic when reading certain material.

Finally, in the end of the novel, students share their feelings about graduation through their journal entries. One student tells his story of being the first to graduate high school and continue onto college, proving that dreams can be achieved, and new paths can be created. He says, “Historians say history repeats itself, but in my case I have managed to break the cycle because I 'm going to graduate from high school and go to college, an opportunity my parents never had”(205). This really emphasizes the theme of the entire book, which is that change is possible, and the sky 's the limit. Once a hoodlum, this young man has matured into a true student, being the first in his family to even graduate, plus he will go on to college