THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVENBREAKDOWN, CHAPTERS 15-24

“A TRAIN IS AN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE DESIGNED TO LEAD TO SOME RESULT“ NEW CHARACTERS

• Samuel Builds-the-Fire

• Thomas’s grandfather, who suffers an emotional decline culminating in death in this story

“A TRAIN IS AN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE DESIGNED TO LEAD TO SOME RESULT“ BREAKDOWN

• On his birthday, Samuel Builds-the-Fire, grandfather to Thomas Builds-the-Fire, is laid off from his job cleaning rooms at a motel

• Although he has never had an alcoholic drink his entire life, Samuel Builds-the-Fire drinks this day

• He drinks so much he passes out on railroad tracks as a train approaches.

ANALYSIS• Humiliation

• Samuel’s humiliation in the story is so complete that only death can resolve it

• Samuel’s story is the result of a more systematic problem in Native American culture with far-reaching implications, beyond those of the actions of a few individuals on one night

• Abandonment

• This man is an elder with knowledge and talent as a storyteller— but he has been abandoned in his old age and forced to live alone in a small apartment and eke out a living as a motel maid

• It seems that his friends and relatives have forgotten the value of the cultural knowledge

• Isolation of elders so common in white culture and has infiltrated Native American culture in this story— this is why Samuel wonders whether Indians are not just as “crazy” as whites

• Becoming Obsolete

• Samuel knows what “the horse must have felt when Henry Ford came along”; he feels out of place with his surroundings, obsolete

• In the absence of a place to go or a role to fill, he simply gives up and begins to drink for the first time

• This decision finally seals his fate as Samuel becomes lost and confused at the end of night and presumably dies on the railroad tracks— Alexie provides little hope or comfort at the end

“A GOOD STORY" NEW CHARACTERS

• Uncle Moses:

• A tribal elder and storyteller commemorated in the second story

• Arnold:

• A boy who requests a story from Moses

“A GOOD STORY" BREAKDOWN• Quilts are used as a metaphor for the story's structure

• Junior's mother, who is making a quilt, tells him all of his stories are sad, so Junior tries to tell one that is not

• He relates a tale about Uncle Moses, and his nephew, Arnold, which ends with Uncle Moses beginning the very tale that Junior just told

• This self-reflexive story underscores how storytelling helps to ensure the continuity of Indian identity

ANALYSIS

• Storytelling and Goodness • The narrator successfully fulfills his mother’s request for a

good story by telling the tale about Uncle Moses • Both the old man and the young boy experience a sense of

comfort in the daily ritual of storytelling unavailable in their lives otherwise

• Moses tells the stories while Arnold listens; both are content in this simple act—this story offers proof that such contentment is still possible, as the tale closes with a peaceful scene

• The narrator drinks Diet Pepsi and his mother sews—the scene suggests that some “goodness,” or contentment, might be found in these seemingly insignificant everyday activities

“THE FIRST ALL-INDIAN HORSESHOE PITCH AND BARBECUE” NEW CHARACTERS

• Simon

• Winner of contests at the BBQ

• Baby

• Mixed-race baby seen as beautiful

“THE FIRST ALL-INDIAN HORSESHOE PITCH AND BARBECUE” BREAKDOWN

• This densely poetic story, the most upbeat in the entire collection, describes the event of its title

• There are hot dogs, Pepsi, Kool-Aid, a horseshoe pitch competition, and talk of making basketball the new tribal religion

ANALYSIS• Enjoyment

• The memory of the “first annual barbecue” offers proof that everyday life can be enjoyable

• The tribe takes pleasure in simply eating, throwing horseshoes, and telling stories

• It seems that the camaraderie experienced on this day results in new feelings of joy and acceptance

• The description of the mixed-race baby at the end of the story symbolizes this possibility; the “beauty” seen in the child suggests that white and Native American cultures might merge more easily, perhaps even without conflict, in this setting

“IMAGINING THE RESERVATION” NEW CHARACTERS

• Unnamed Narrator:

• Poses a series of questions

“IMAGINING THE RESERVATION” BREAKDOWN• Alexie explores the ways in which Indians use their imaginations to

battle their culturally and physically impoverished lives on the reservation—t is a philosophical story that demonstrates the power that imagination might have to alter the lives of Native Americans

• His symbolic descriptions dart between "what if” fantasies of the past, memories of an impoverished childhood, and the reality of the present

• As in other stories in the collection, Alexie peppers this one with allusions to popular culture such as television shows and rock and roll music

• He writes, "I am in the 7-11 of my dreams, surrounded by five hundred years of convenient lies," the narrator underscores his belief that "imagination is the only weapon on the reservation."

ANALYSIS

• Future of Society • This story looks for answers in the reevaluation of popular

white culture at it stands today • The narrator is trying to convince a skeptical tribe that

imagination indeed offers powerful tools for survival • Native Americans must be angry enough to desire change

and imaginative enough to create beneficial solutions • Only those solutions that offer belief in outcomes that

seem unlikely—like “water that mends broken bones and stor[ies] that put wood in the fireplace” will provide a future that is different from, and better than, the present

“THE APPROXIMATE SIZE OF MY FAVORITE TUMOR” NEW CHARACTERS

• Jimmy Many Horses:

• A Reservation man who is married to Norma Many Horses and dying of cancer

“THE APPROXIMATE SIZE OF MY FAVORITE TUMOR” BREAKDOWN

• The narrator, Jimmy Many Horses, who has cancer, describes his on-again, off-again relationship with his wife, Norma

• She leaves him because he cannot stop joking about the terminal illness, saying that it is the size of a baseball, and that in an X-ray he could see the stitches on it

• His wife returns to live with him at the end of the story because the person she was living with was "too serious"

ANALYSIS• Tradition and Healing

• Jimmy responds to terminal cancer with a sense of humor that his wife initially does not understand or accept

• His jokes instead drive Norma to leave him; it seems that she cannot accept his pragmatic approach to dying, yet the end of the story demonstrates the folly of her response

• Neither Norma nor Jimmy can change the fact of his impending death, so why not laugh at it?

• Her return underscores argument— she will help Jimmy to die, and Jimmy will help her to grieve and in the meantime, they both will continue to laugh

“INDIAN EDUCATION” NEW CHARACTERS

• Unnamed Narrator (Junior):

• Narrates the story

“INDIAN EDUCATION” BREAKDOWN

• This story is structured as a series of short descriptive vignettes, each depicting a grade in his education, from first grade through twelfth

• Recounting representative incidents from each grade that illustrate his life on the reservation, battles against discrimination, and hopes for the future, he describes himself as intelligent, athletic, and despairing

ANALYSIS

• Separation • Junior, the narrator of “Indian Education,” suggests that his

early years only seemed to further separate him from his peers, family, and culture

• He made choices in school, such as pursuing his love of spelling, that distinguished him from his classmates—these choices culminated in attendance at a mostly white high school, an environment that both developed his talents and distanced him from his community at the same time

• As he graduates as a basketball player and academic star (he is the valedictorian of his class), Junior reflects not on his own success, but rather on the limited choices available to his peers “back home on the Reservation”

“THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN” NEW CHARACTERS

• Unnamed clerk at a 7-11:

• Sells the narrator of the story a popsicle

“THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN” BREAKDOWN

• In this title story, Victor leaves the reservation to live in Seattle with his white girlfriend, who plays out the role of the Lone Ranger to Victor's Tonto

• When the relationship sours, Victor returns to the reservation, stops drinking and finds a job answering phones for a high school exchange program

ANALYSIS• Identity

• The title story, which begins with adulthood, focuses on events and motivations that led to a return home from Seattle, back to Spokane

• The reasons for this return might be due to him taking on an unfulfilling job and being involved in an unhealthy relationship; however, the real reasons are linked to the racial identity of the narrator

• He is more aware of race in this new environment in Seattle than he has ever been before—he profiles customers at work in order to prevent a possible robbery, he is pulled over and questioned while driving through a middle-class neighborhood at night, and finally, he has nightmares of brutal punishment for his involvement with a white woman

• The nightmares finally convinces him to leave.

ANALYSIS• The Return Home

• Results in a resolution of his fears; his new life brings sobriety, a better job, and closure with his white girlfriend

• However, this ending does not seem to resolve all of the questions and conflicts that opened the story—the problem of living in both cultures, white and Native American, still remains

• The narrator has merely moved from one location to another; he has not yet found a way to merge or reconcile his experiences in Seattle and Spokane

• It seems that two cultures and periods in his life remain locked in conflict; the differences between them are as distinct as those between the Lone Ranger and Tonto on television, as suggested in the title

“FAMILY PORTRAIT” NEW CHARACTERS

• Unnamed Narrator:

• Narrator of the story

“FAMILY PORTRAIT” BREAKDOWN• This story describes Junior's family members and their

propensity for storytelling

• It bears a remarkable similarity to the story Alexie tells about his own life

• Alexie structures the story by "translating" what people say into what he heard

• Superficially, he blames the sound from the always-on television as distorting words

• However, the television itself acts as a metaphor for how popular culture and European ways have ruined Indian traditions

ANALYSIS

• Personal History • The story of the narrator’s life is fraught with

inconsistencies in experience and opinion • Moreover, he realizes that even the memories of

a single person change over time as his or her experiences accumulate and emotions shift

• This story accordingly suggests that the past is not the whole truth, but rather an interpretation; history has been irrevocably altered to “justify” the present

“SOMEBODY KEPT SAYING POWWOW” NEW CHARACTERS

• Junior Polatkin:

• The narrator of the story and an admirer of Norma

“SOMEBODY KEPT SAYING POWWOW” BREAKDOWN

• In this story, Junior, describes his experiences with Norma Many Horses

• For Junior, she is a role model who epitomizes the right way to live

• She neither drinks nor smokes, is honest to a fault, is confident of her Indian identity, and acts as a caretaker for other Indians on the reservation, who respectfully call her “grandmother"

• She calls Junior "Pete Rose," comparing Junior with the baseball player who is remembered more for his gambling than he is for his record-setting career

ANALYSIS

• Wisdom

• Norma epitomizes both generosity and power by shunning temptations, such as smoking and drinking, displaying special talents, such as writing and dancing, and taking a genuine interest in others, particularly Junior

• Norma’s power is made clear in the final scenes as Junior’s involvement in a cruel college prank is divulged

• She compares the shame that Junior feels to that of Pete Rose and suggests that like the baseball player, Junior's reputation should not be sullied by one mistake—the joke frees Junior of the torment he feels and reinstates the friendship

• Healing

• It is clear that Norma’s greatest strength is the ability to heal others from their pasts, a critical skill in a community haunted by history—she is truly a “cultural lifeguard” after all

“WITNESSES, SECRET AND NOT” NEW CHARACTERS

• Jerry Vincent:

• A former friend of the narrator’s father and murder victim whose case remains open in the story

“WITNESSES, SECRET AND NOT” BREAKDOWN• Victor is thirteen in this story, and he and his father are driving to the police

station so that the police can ask his father questions about a missing Indian, Jerry Vincent, who was supposedly killed ten years earlier

• His father narrowly escapes crashing the car, after skidding on the icy road

• At the police station, Victor's father repeats what he has told the police numerous times before: he knows nothing about Jerry Vincent other than what he has already told them

• The father admits to Victor on the drive home that he was involved in a car accident once in which a white man was killed, but he was never arrested because the white man had been drinking

• The story ends when the two return home and Victor's father cries into his food

ANALYSIS• Willingness to Witness

• The narrator recalls the day he learned of Jerry Vincent’s murder and assisted his father during a trip to provide testimony at the police station, yet the murder is neither as exciting nor as straightforward as the boy had hoped

• His father admits that he saw Jerry just before the murder and heard the story that spread about it later; however, his knowledge ends with these details

• As father and son discuss the infamous murder, it becomes clear that the story, not the crime, is finally more important to the community

• In this case, the aim of the story of Jerry Vincent is not to reveal the identity of Jerry's killer, but rather to bear witness to the frequency of such “disappearances” among Indians

• A witness creates stories with meanings that are both personal and cultural, significant to the tribe as well as to the entire community