Preview

That Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
623 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
That Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
Anh Phan
Professor Frank
English 112
September 28, 2012
“That Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” In short story Sherman Alexie. “That is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona, he creates three main characters, Victor, Victor’s father, and Thomas who have three different personalities. However, Thomas seems one of the most interesting characters in this short story. The author presents Thomas as a person who has not been affected negative by the hardship and struggles of modern day Native American. He is funny and traditional person; and has the kind of personality. Thomas represents a funny and traditional person: and has kind of personality through what he says. As Thomas greets Victor at the tribal trading post and expresses condolences for his loss, Victor asks how Thomas learned of Victor’s father passing. Thomas says: “I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. Also your mother was just in here crying (130)”. When Victor has difficult finance, Thomas volunteers to help contribute some money for fly to Arizona. Thomas says: “I can lend you the money you need (130)”. Also, Thomas volunteers to help contribute some money to fly to Phoenix Arizona. Thomas says: “I can lend you the money you need (130)”. Moreover, Thomas lives with his story in the past, and his words when he says are very pure and simple which do not hurt anyone. He says: “take care of each other is what my dreams were saying take care of each other”. When he remembers Victor’s father found him at the fall and treated him a good breakfast. When they come back from Phoenix, Victor makes a promise that he will pay all back and want to thank Thomas for help, but Thomas just says: “Don’t worry about the money”, “It doesn’t make any difference anyhow”. In addition, Thomas does not want to lose Victor who is only his friend when they were young. After helping Victor, Thomas does not require anything, but just ask Victor one thing that “just one time

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The stories are frequently about or concerning Victors father. The stories hit a nerve for Victor, and I don't think Thomas notices it. Victor is angry and resentful of his father, for being a terrible parent and for leaving him and his mother. He is also jealous of Thomas because Thomas has better memories of his father than he dose. He thinks that his father treated Thomas better, the way he should have done his own son. All of these sort of under running problems are spelled out in the flashbacks.…

    • 326 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smoke Signals

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The relationship between Victor and Thomas in the movie Smoke Signals is what gives the stories that Sherman Alexie weave they're meaning. As the story goes on so does the relationship from acquaintances, to veritable enemies, to close friends. This shifting in association gives the movie a very heartwarming effect. It showed that these young Indian boys overcame the obstacles that had separated them, and while doing this became close friends. In the opening scene we are exposed to how Thomas' family becomes indebted to Victor's. Victor’s father rescued Thomas from the burning building that killed his parents. We are not made aware of the fact that Victor's father had in fact started the fire as well. Leaving this detail unknown until the end of the movie allows everyone the chance to come to their own conclusions about Victor's father, before his personality is really showed by his neighbor. During the movie, Thomas tried to befriend Victor. The other children consider Thomas a "dork" and Victor did not speak to him very much. The scene after Victor's father left, where Victor beats Thomas into oblivion for making a rude remark about Victor's dad and the scene on the basketball court shows us this feeling of annoyance that Victor holds about Thomas. For unknown reasons, however, Thomas continued to try to befriend Victor. Thomas…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The early death of Victor’s older brother brings Victor closer to nature. Trees, stars, dogs, horses, and the moon all come together to create a magical encounter between nature and humans. His belief in the supernatural and his intuition is strong. Villasenor describes himself as a spiritual person, yet not religious, with mirrors his Navajo-like perspective on the natural cycle of life and being one with nature.…

    • 987 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Victors brother was killed by the creature he created, the remourse victor and his father have towards his death show weakness. Men in society are conditioned to be brought up as brave and protective. While Victors father is letting the death of his son affect his well being and health, Victor is trying to keep his weakness hidden from his father in order to keep the family held together.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Born and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, Sherman Alexie was truly a remarkable boy. Coming from what he considered to be a poor family “by most standards”, Alexie claims that him and his family lived “on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food” (Alexie pg.16). At the young age of three, Alexie taught himself how to read with a Superman comic book. Where Alexie…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fistfight In Heaven

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Victor almost seems to admire Thomas, because Thomas doesn’t care what other people think about him. Although Victor wants to escape from the standards of the white people, he still conforms to their culture because he is afraid of ridicule. However, Thomas doesn’t let other peoples’ opinions affect him, and Victor is jealous of his nonchalant attitude towards other people. “Everyone has dreams about flying. Thomas flew,” (70). Thomas has confidence in himself, which is something that most everyone else in the reservation seems to lack. When Victor sees Thomas’s confidence, he begins avoiding Thomas, perhaps because of jealousy, or possibly because he is afraid of what other people might think about Victor if they see him with Thomas. When Thomas and Victor are returning to Spokane Reservation in “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Thomas says, “I know you aren’t going to treat me any differently than before. Your friends would give me too much shit about it,” (74). Victor is too caught up in the modern world to possibly understand the importance of Thomas’s stories, and Thomas understands Victor’s limitations. However, at the end of “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Victor agrees to listen to one of Thomas’s stories just once. This symbolizes Victor’s step backwards towards the traditions and stories of Native Americans in the…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    These two opposing forces are best represented by two of the novel 's principal characters: Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire. Victor, raised in poverty by an alcoholic, "failure" of a father, can only see the past through dark colored glasses. For him, the past is a force that, more often than not, leaves disaster in its wake; the tragedy of the past begets the tragedy of the present, pain begets pain. It is an endless and indefatigable cycle. Thomas-Builds-the-Fire on the other hand, is a man who sees value in the past and in tradition-hence his role as a storyteller. When Thomas speaks of the past in his stories, he speaks of past Indian glory, of acts of bravery and sacrifice, and in such a past he sees hope for the future. For each man, the past holds a different meaning, and a different potential; where one sees only decay, the other sees the possibility for rebirth.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the very first sentence of Sherman Alexie 's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," you can assume that the main character, Victor, is facing a hard life. Not only did he lose his job, he also lost his father to a heart attack the same day. The story tells the journey of Victor and an old friend, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, traveling to Phoenix to pick up his father 's ashes, pickup truck, and money from his savings account. Victor did not have any money and neither did anyone else living on the reservation, "Who does have money on a reservation, except the cigarette and fireworks sales-people?" (page 275) Victor has to turn to the tribal council for money, but they are also low on funds and can only give him one-hundred dollars. Thomas is considered the town’s outcast and he is the only one willing to help Victor. Victor goes on to say that he used to be friends with Thomas until they were about fifteen and then Victor turned his back on him because everyone else thought he was weird. He also talks about their childhood and the memories they share and the fact that Thomas knew about Victor’s father wanting to leave before it ever happened. “Once, when they were seven years old, when Victor’s father still lived with the family, Thomas closed his eyes and told Victor this story: “Your father’s heart is weak. He is afraid of his own family. He is afraid of you.” (page 275). Thomas ends up giving Victor the rest of the money he needs, but only if Victor allows Thomas to go along.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Superman and Me

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Native American writer, Sherman Alexie, in his essay, “Superman and Me”, (VERB) (SUBJECT). Alexie’s purpose is to tell the reader how he beat the system of being a typical typical ‘stupid Indian who accepted failure’. He went to school, taught himself how to read, and eventually left the reservation unlike the majority of Indians on the reservation. He adopts a sarcastic tone in order to motivate young Native American children not to fall into that stereotype. Sherman Alexie takes on the following strategies to convey his position: hyperboles, repetition, and metaphors.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Victor needed help from the beginning of the story. When he was penniless and needed to go to Phoenix, Arizona out of all his friends and acquaintances Thomas offered to lend him the money he needed even though Victor and all the other Native American boys on the reservation had been ignoring him for years because of “the same damn stories he was always telling over and over again”.(Sherman, 288) Thomas’s action was a true sign of friendship and he gave his friend the money without expecting anything in return. The only condition Thomas had, was to go with him to Phoenix, and, as he would reveal later in the text, the reason for that was that he had given his word to Victor’s father that he would “watch out” (Sherman, 292) for his dear son. Thomas was staying loyal to the promise he gave to Victor’s Father. Since they were kids, he has looked after Victor. He was always there to take care of Victor, as an example: “When Victor was…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Harper High Schoool

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thomas was an Eyewitness to many shootings. He has been traumatized but also shootings and violence has become a regular part of his life. Thomas tends to cave in and not share the experiences with many people but whenever Anita is at the high school Thomas is always going to talk to her. Anita worked with Shakaki for two years and similarly grieving over the death of her. Anita tries to help with the memorial that is built inside the school for Shakaki.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    While at the reservation post office, to cash his $100.00 cheque, Victor spots Thomas-Builds-the-Fire standing by a rack of magazines. Thomas is the town outcast and he helps to fulfill that 'role' by constantly talking to himself. Thomas is always philosophizing and trying to share his 'visions' with anyone willing to listen. Unfortunately for Thomas, people stopped listening years ago. Yet even with no one listening, he keeps on speaking. Victor and Thomas were childhood friends and Victor can remember Thomas story telling from the start. When the boys were seven, Thomas predicted that Victor's father would one day…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sherman Alexie was a child genius who wanted nothing more than to learn. Though this constantly got him into trouble his love never ceased. We see how his desperation to learn caused strife among his peers, how made up the majority of his childhood, and how he wants to give this love and need to a new generation. His desperation was the result of his circumstance. But we can see he made the best out of his…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Sherman Alexie asserts that regardless of the circumstances that one has to go through, there is always hope that they will be able to overcome that. In doing so he focuses on the struggle Arnold faces between attempting to discover his identity between two cultures and overcoming the loss of loved ones. Alexie reflects his values of returning to his origins by expressing the importance of identity and hope throughout the novel.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cowboy

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The best part about Thomas was his smile. Not that it was one of those perfect, fixed by braces, glaringly white smiles. It was a genuine smile, an extension of the bright personality [that was] underneath the rough veneer. Thomas was such a positive person that he couldn’t hide who he was. When faced with a problem Thomas…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays