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What You Pawn I Will Redeem Analysis

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“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is Christ Jesus” Romans 3:24-26 (KJV). This verse holds significance throughout the story, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie. Nothing is ever fully justified freely without the grace and redemption through Jesus Christ and “Jackson Jackson” finds this without really every realizing its significance until the end of the story. Redemption is found in the darkest of times and helps you to find who you really are. Alexie writes about a homeless Indian, named Jackson Jackson, searching for money to buy his grandmothers regalia that he finds in a pawnshop; but there is a greater significance in the title of the story and in the symbols, rather than just a small summary of the story, that fall in line with the title throughout the story than just what is told. There is a deeper and hidden meaning to this story stuffed in the title.
The title of the story is “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.” When breaking this title down simplistically it means that what is pawned off I will receive. However, this may be true in some cases, but in this case, this isn’t …show more content…

The three most significant symbols in the story are the regalia, the money, and the pawnshop. The symbolism in each of them is closely related to one another. The regalia symbolizes the Indian heritage and culture (Alexie 2). It also symbolizes what is pawned and that no one is perfect “because only God is perfect” (Alexie 2). The pawnshop symbolizes a place of redemption and the motivation to find redemption. The pawnbroker needing the money for the regalia challenges Jackson to find money to receive the regalia back. The money symbolizes the need for help to receive the redemption from the pawnshop. The relation these symbols have the title is that the unperfected pawned item is redeemed with the help of the money at the place of

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