What Are The Similarities Between Joshua Febres And Ten Little Indians

In life, one’s journey is a never-ending process, with a multitude of sudden changes and unexpected delays. While researching characters in both the New York Times’ 1 in 8 million miniseries, and in Sherman Alexie’s Ten Little Indians, there were three particularly intriguing men who stuck out from the bunch, and their stories piqued my interest like no other characters have before. There is Joshua Febres, a young African-American teenager born in the Bronx, who is a part of the infamous gang, the Crips. You have Patrick Harris, a white, middle aged man who grew up a part of an affluent family on Long Island, New York, and lives on a sailboat on the Hudson Bay. And finally, there is Harlan Atwater, who biologically is a Spokane Indian, but

Much like the Bronx, Joshua Febres’ story has a rough and tumble element, a product of the environment in which he was raised in. Growing up next to a junkyard, Joshua references it multiple times in his 1 In 8 Million profile, citing it as “a place that meant everything to me.” With his older brother dabbling in selling cocaine, he was attracted to the “high roller” lifestyle in which his brother was living. Joshua started selling cocaine at the age of 13. As he was on his corner, there were a group of guys that took a liking to him; members of the Crips. After gaining their support, Joshua joined the gang because he felt like he owed them for being protective of him during the early stages of his cocaine dealings. Months after he joined the Crips, he was arrested for assault and robbery. Since Joshua was a minor, he was transferred to a Daytop rehabilitation center. On his return to school, he had blossomed into a new student, and had distanced himself away from his membership in the Crips. He claimed to still be a part of the gang, but he “doesn’t go hard with it” anymore. Febres’ quest is quite easily defined, as his quest is one to just get away from everything he has gotten himself into. It is only a difficult quest because of the place he is in, and the situations he has put himself through. It is easy to see why

In 10 Little Indians, the poet turned extreme introvert is standoffish and rude, a product of his loneliness. A Spokane Indian who was adopted to a white family as a child, became a poet and used the name “Harlan Atwater” to sound more like a Spokane, as his white parents gave him a white name when they adopted him. His journey from childhood as an adopted son to a hermit is muddled in the book, as his story is more of a reflection of himself by himself than a profile such as the ones of Joshua Febres and Patrick Harris. Harlan Atwater was a poet and a sad man, and his journey was not a journey to be out on the water, or a journey to get away from a rough and tumble lifestyle. Atwater’s journey was simply one trying to find themselves in the midst of a life that really was not his. In the book, he talks about finding his Indian mother. “I’m getting closer, and then she reaches into her pocket, pulls out this crack pipe and a lighter, and she lights up right there in the middle of the street… I just kept thinking God had chosen me, had chosen these two white people to swoop in and save me. Do you know how terrible it is to feel that way? And how good it feels, too?” This quote shows the confliction in Atwater’s mind about his life and who he is. He was happy that he wasn’t raised by his birth mother, but upset that it had to be the way it was. His quest to find himself is not as clear-cut as the other quests, but it