The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
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| The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven | |
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| Author | Sherman Alexie |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short stories |
| Publisher | Perennial/Atlantic Monthly Press |
| Publication date | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 240 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0060976248 |
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a 1993 collection of interconnected short stories by Sherman Alexie. The characters and stories in the book, particularly "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" provided the basis of Alexie's screenplay for the film Smoke Signals. [1] [2]
The collection was originally released in 1993; it was reissued in 2003, with two new stories, by Grove Atlantic Press.
Contents |
[edit] Plot Overview
The short stories are interconnected, but each is unique. All of the stories center around the life of the Native Americans, or Indians, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The narrative centers on Victor Joseph and his friends and family. He tells some of the stories from his first-person perspective while some of the stories are told about him from the third-person omniscient perspective. The next most central character is Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, an eccentric story-telling Indian who everyone avoids. "Alexie fuses surreal imagery, flashbacks, dream sequences, diary entries, and extended poetic passages with his storytelling to create tales that resemble prose poems more than conventional narratives."[3]
[edit] Themes
- Ethnic pride
- Native American / Indian stereotypes
- Broken Homes/ Dysfunctional families
- Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism
- Identity Issues
- Depression and Suicide
- Poverty
- Imagination and fantasy
[edit] Alcohol
This short story cycle is definitely a narrative saturated with alcohol. Many criticize Alexie for fostering the stereotype of the "drunk Indian." In his introduction to the tenth anniversary printing of the work, Alexie says, "When I write about the destructive effects of alcohol on Indians, I am not writing out of a literary stance or a colonized mind's need to reinforce stereotypes. I am writing autobiography."[4] He also calls the work a "thinly disguised memoir,"[5] as many of the stories stem from his own personal experiences.
[edit] Alcohol and Identity
Alcohol presents itself in almost every story in some way, shape, or form. Several of the stories suggest that the Indians accept and embrace alcohol as part of their identity. In "Every Little Hurricane," the weather represents alcohol and the subsequent drunken violence. Just as the reservation storm is generic and accepted, so is alcoholism accepted as an inevitable social condition. In this story, Victor's parents become alcohol when he tastes the whiskey on this mother's skin and the cheap beer on his father's. The motif of the Indians becoming alcohol presents itself again in "Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Woodstock," when Victor describes himself as having been conceived "during one of those drunken nights, half of me formed by my father's whiskey sperm, the other half formed by my mother's vodka egg. I was born a goofy reservation mixed drink." [6]
Although many stories present alcohol abuse as an unavoidable problem, "A Drug Called Tradition" suggests that Indians can resist alcohol dependence and rediscover their native identity. During their vision, the boys go back to the time before they each tasted alcohol. After their rejection of the alcohol, the boys "sing and dance and drum. They steal horses." [7] This passage implies that the boys can share in male camaraderie through native practices, but only if they reject alcohol. This story demonstrates the Indians' desire to transcend the norm in their society and embrace their native roots.
[edit] Awards Won
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- PEN/Hemingway Award: Best First Book of Fiction Citation Winner
- Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award
- Washington State Governor's Writers Award
- The Best American Short Stories 1994 includes "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "Stories from the reservation", ICFI, November 20, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
- ^ "Sending Cinematic Smoke Signals: An Interview with Sherman Alexie", Cineaste, Fall 1998. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
- ^ Napierkowski, enotes.com
- ^ Alexie, 2005, p. xix.
- ^ Alexie, 2005, p. xix.
- ^ Alexie,2005, p. 27.
- ^ Alexie,2005, p. 21.
[edit] References
Sherman, Alexie. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Grove Press: New York, 2005.
"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven: Introduction." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie
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- Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 7 May 2008.
- <http://www.enotes.com/lone-ranger/introduction>.
