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Native Americans In Smoke Signals By Alexie Sherman

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Alexie Sherman in “Smoke Signals” describes the way of living of Native Americans. He uses two characters in the movie as Native Americans Victor and Thomas. Thomas’s parents died in the accidental fire on Independence Day in 1976 in Coeur d’Alene, however, Arnold Joseph, Victor's father, saved Thomas from the fire. When Thomas was just blasted out of the window, Victor’s father miraculously caught Thomas before he landed on the ground. Thomas was a nerd who was smart, and he enjoyed telling stories to anyone. On the other hand, Victor was a tough Indian guy who was hard to handle, but he had a special attitude to his Mom. Victor never had a respect to his cousin Thomas although Thomas was educated and well-mannered. One day, Thomas said that “they were children born of flame and ash”. …show more content…

The dad was drinking every single day, and was satisfied with everything he had. However, Victor got angrier a lot more. One day, there was a party, and Victor’s drunk dad asked him “who was Victor’s favorite Indian?” where he got responded “nobody”. The responses of his son made him angrier, and he never stopped drinking. On the next day, Victor was smashing the beer bottles onto his truck which describes his hate to his father. That action led to his father’s leave from the reservation in Idaho. After ten years of suppressed anger, Victor’s mother received a phone call that Arnold Joseph had passed away in Phoenix, Arizona. Therefore, after discussion with his mother Victor decided to go there, and bring his ashes and remains back to Coeur d’Alene. Victor did not have money for the trip, but Thomas offered him a fund for the trip on the condition he goes with Victor. Arrangements were made, and Victor with his cousin set off to

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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.

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For instance, when Victor first comes to the realization that he is ashamed of talking to Thomas, he indirectly shows that he is embarrassed of his culture. Thomas Build-the-Fire and his traditional storytelling are a synecdoche for Native American culture. Furthermore, by detailing Victor's embarrassment of Thomas who "told the same damn stories over and over again" Alexie shows that Victor has a deep distaste for the Native American tradition of storytelling (Alexie 274). Another example of Victor's embarrassment is when Victor and Thomas are on an airplane ride to Arizona and they have an exchange of words with a gymnast. Victor "close[s] his eyes in embarrassment" while Thomas initiates contact with the women (Alexie 277).

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