This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona Analysis

“Victor was ashamed of himself. Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams. He owed Thomas something, anything.” At the beginning of Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Victor is faced with the task of bringing his father’s remains back to the reservation where he lives. He describes Thomas Builds-the-Fire as “a storyteller that nobody wanted to listen to,” but he ends up traveling with Thomas to bring his father’s remains back to the reservation. While he travels with Thomas, he begins to remember the relationship that the boys shared growing, and begins to earn a new respect for Thomas. Victor is reminded of the importance of tradition when he learns of how his father helped Thomas when he was following a dream. Victor sees the importance of memories and ties to people as he returns home with his father’s ashes. Victor’s time with Thomas, and Thomas’s views on tradition teach him much

Victor admitted that he wasn’t close to his father because he hadn’t spoken to him for a few years. He seems to have similar difficulties with the rest of his family as “...the rest of the family didn’t have any use at all for him.” He doesn’t seem to cling to the people close to him or have valuable relationships. When he runs into Thomas, he receives the offer of help traveling to Phoenix from Thomas. There is the first glimpse into the relationship between the two men as we are shown a flashback of the two of them at ten years old. They were friends and shared good times, but this feeling hasn’t remained for Thomas. He hasn’t kept that connections and those ties with Thomas because he really doesn’t want to travel with him. His attitude when he accepts the offer shows his lack of relationship