Tragedy And Care In Sherman Alexie's War Dances

In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “War Dances,” the narrator unravels in thoughts and takes us through events in his life. He picks up by speaking about a cockroach that ends up dying in his Kafka baggage from a trip to Los Angeles. The cockroach still appears many times throughout the story. The narrator spends quality time in the hospital with his father, who is recovering from surgery due to diabetes and alcoholism, all along the way while he, himself, discovers he might have a brain tumor, leading his right ear to talk about his father. Using a style of tragedy and care both incorporate together a symbolic story that would make even a plain reader feel touched, leading to the major occurrence of a theme of the importance of family. Regarding the visit Alexie’s character had with his father in the hospital, his dad kept fussing that he was cold. The character went in search for another blanket, even though he knew that with several more his father would still not be warm enough. The blankets “were more like the

“Your brain is beautiful”(74), his doctor had said. The character wishes so badly to call up his father and let him know that “a white man thought his brain was beautiful”(74). He does tell everyone else though, but none of them react the same way he knows his father would- with a good laugh. “[He] missed that drunk bastard. [He] would always feel closest to the man who had most disappointed [him](74). The character feels an almost bittersweet sensation here due to his father not being there for him in times when he needs him. It is a tragedy that even though he is relieved that his health is in satisfactory condition, his father is not because of his own choices of an unsatisfactory