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Analysis Of What You Pawn I Will Redeem

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The story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, written by Sherman Alexie, is about twenty-four hours in the life of a homeless Spokane Indian who suffers with some degree of mental illness. Jackson Jackson, the homeless Indian, is the main character in the story and is the person giving the details of his activity for a day. Jackson is originally from Spokane Washington, but has been living in Seattle for 23 years. His move to Seattle and his current state of homelessness is somewhat parallel historically to his ancestors lost of land in America and eventual state of wandering. He has been homeless for 6 years and has joined many other homeless Indians living in Seattle. Jackson feels that the white people just ignore the homeless Indian population. Jackson seems to have trouble …show more content…

He has become friends with store owners and employees who let him use the private and clean bathrooms. Jackson introduces us to his Indian friends, Rose of Sharon and Junior, the other main characters. It is around lunchtime on this particular day. Jackson, Rose of Sharon and Junior have been pan handling for about two hours and through their efforts have come up with five dollars. They head to the 7 Eleven Convenience store to buy themselves a bottle of alcohol when they pass a pawnshop. Hanging in the window of the pawnshop is an old Indian powwow dance regalia. Jackson turns to his friends and tells them that the regalia belonged to his grandmother and someone had stolen it from her fifty years ago. Even though Jackson had only seen pictures of the regalia, he was certain that it was his grandmother’s. The trio goes into the pawnshop and Jackson tells the pawnbroker that the regalia belonged to his grandmother and that someone had taken it fifty years ago. The man didn’t believe him, but Jackson was able to prove that it was his grandmother’s by locating a particular quirk in the

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