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Reservation Blues Chapter 1 Summary

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Recommended: Racism and stereotype today with native americans essays

Jessica Hurdubei
August 19, 2015
Mrs. Meredith
AP Language & Composition

Reading response to Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie

Intro: The audience intended in the novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie , are most likely Native Americans or those who enjoy a good book with plot twists. This because the book is biased, favoring Native Americans, and Rock n Roll. Through the novel, many upsetting things occur on the Spokane Indian Rez. The tone of the novel is humorous and insensitive. The author has no limit when telling of the tales of the Rez.

Chapter 1: The setting of Reservation Blues on the Spokane Indian Reservation or “rez”. At the beginning of the writing, a new man shows up on the rez out of nowhere. He is found at the crossroads and is labeled as a “black man” due to the segregation back in the day. Chapter one introduces Thomas-builds-a-fire quite suddenly and describes him as a lonely being. He is 32 years of age and considered a loser and known for telling tales and stories. Thomas investigates and finds out more about the new man on the rez. Soon enough, he learns that the stranger’s name is Robert Johnson. Johnson has come to the rez in order to find a woman he sees in his dreams. He believes she will help him with his issue. His issue is a …show more content…

They watch the band practice sometimes, and speak negatively of the band and its level compared to others. Checkers is known as the most beautiful woman on the Flathead “Rez”. Chess isn’t payed as much as Checkers. For two beautiful girls, they have made a poor choice on their boyfriends. Victor and Junior are drunks, which affected their playing. Thomas chooses not to drink, because he has an alcoholic father. When playing, Thomas attempts to woo Chess on stage, leading to the evil guitar from the black man on the rez forcing Victor onstage as well. This results in a pleased crowd, including

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Ever since that night thomas and victor were no longer friends. Thomas’ has a good forgiving nature, heart, and isn’t afraid to be himself even when people stop talking to him. For instance, when all the other kids talked behind his back and made fun of him, he still told his stories to whoever would listen and kept to himself. Also, when Thomas heard the news about Victors’ father he is willing to put all the money he has been saving up towards the trip. Thomas says “i can lend you the money you need… just take me with you”.

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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.

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They are trying to save their lives.” Although Sherman Alexie’s success seems as if it has only opened up doors for himself it did not, it opened up doors for other Indian kids that are still on the reservation. When Sherman Alexie wrote his books and poems the kids on the reservation read them. They gave them hope, he gave them a reason to fight for their lives the way he did. Those kids too started to write their own short stories and found the same joy in learning that Sherman Alexie did.

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Sherman Alexie uses a combination of reality and fiction in order to show the reader what he thinks the lives of people on the Spokane Indian Reservation was like. In regards to what differentiates the fiction from the non-fiction of the stories you could look at present day Native American Reservations. Some reservations are still plagued with alcoholism, and poverty of the past. While the characters and stories are just vessels to deliver the message and show what Sherman Alexie portrayed the reservation live to be. The reaction and impact that this has on the reader is the same as the age-old use of story telling.

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Sherman Alexie’s Survival Equation and the Resilience of Native American Culture Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven portrays the hardships faced by Native Americans at the hands of the overpowering force of mainstream American culture. Alexie uses multiple perspectives in his book to convey the complexity of the situation on the reservation. However, his recurring themes such as survival, tradition, and underlying cultural ties connect the stories together as does the overarching message about the resilience of Native American people and their culture. With these consistent themes, the multiple perspectives found in his stories prove the validity of his cultural points due to their repetition. In his composite novel, Alexie reveals the resilience of Native American culture by breaking it down into a mathematical equation

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The Round House by Louise Erdrich and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie both examine the relationship between Indians on a reservation and their non-Indian neighbors. Throughout these novels, Indian and non-Indian relationships are punctuated with systems of white supremacy, which manifest both in non-Indians’ ideological belief in their supremacy, and in the material disparity between Indian and non-Indian communities. In The Round House, white superiority is primarily expressed in ideological measure, while The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian focuses largely on the material sphere, but the themes are not mutually exclusive. The Round House focuses primarily on the convoluted relationship between Indians and non-Indian neighbors.

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Being a writer of many different styles, Sherman Alexie started off as a poet before writing novels and short stories. His poetic manner continues in the story “Indian Education”. He has a wide array of dry statements mixed with metaphors and statements that are not meant to be taken literally. The trend for each years is that he starts off dry and literal and ends poetic and metaphorical. His description of his interactions with the “white girl” in seventh grade is a great example.

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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.

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