Preview

Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
475 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven
Many young Native Americans face a tough time in America, and this short story shows some of the struggles of a young man who has left the reservation. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, is a fictional short story written by, Sherman Alexie in the late 1960’s. This short story uses the man versus society conflict to illustrate that when a young person of a different culture is forced to change their values to be successful, the person’s life becomes meaningless to themselves. The central idea in this story is of a young man slowly losing the meaning of his life as he changes himself to try to make everything in his life fit together. The protagonist is a young Indian man who has moved out of the reservation and into the city (363). …show more content…
This theme is first used at the very beginning of the story when the protagonist speaks of the many times he had been robbed while being a 7-11 clerk (363). The protagonist speaks of a dream, in this dream he was a minor war chief and had fallen in love with a missionaries wife, at the end of this dream he sees Indians killing whites, and white killing Indians (366). After he awoke from this dream he packed all of his stuff and moved back to the reservation (366). A reader can conclude from this dream that he felt as if he was betraying his own kind, and he was betraying himself. The type of conflict supports the story by showing a man who is against the world and trying to build a life while also trying to not forget his roots. This is shown when the young man is playing basketball as he did as a child (367-368). The books ends with the protagonist living in the city and working in a high school exchange program (368). The last words the protagonist says are “I know how all of my dreams end anyway.” This shows that even though the protagonist now has a better job and he seems to be on the right track, he feels as if he’s not where he’s supposed to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Opening illustration about being loyal: ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto were being chased and had…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sherman Alexie’s fiction, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” Alexie narrates some story presented by some unreal events that happened in the reservation, but he conveyed these stories with real elements such as emotions, facts from history, or even what he remembers from his memory as to what he claims as “reservation realism”.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Similarly, the text “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie relates to the narrator’s effect on the way the narrator sees himself compared to the way people actually perceive the character. The main character within this story reflects himself as a worthless colored guy trying to make a change for himself but in reality the society he lives him fails to let him do so. Here is an evident statement a police officer told him directly “You don’t fit the profile of the neighborhood” (35). In many ways, race is defined by what we see. But the narrator in this story has a unique job.…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    8. What is the main type of conflict in this story. Provide examples from the story to explain your answer.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conflict can be portrayed in many different ways, some of which are light hearted, and some that are not so cheerful. We are able to see examples of this all around us in everyday life, but in my opinion some of the most interesting cases are found within novels, plays and poems.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Sherman Alexie 's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven", the past is never really past. The aftershocks of 500 years of Native American persecution, oppression, and neglect continue to haunt the world of the reservation, in the form of alcoholism, poverty, and familial dysfunction. In spite of all this-or perhaps because of it-ancient tribal tradition/ritual lives on, if in a modified, more contemporary version. Throughout the story, the old ways-whether they be storytelling or vision seeking-serve to renew hope, and strengthen the bonds of the community. Thus, the past is both a destructive and a redemptive force within the novel. It is at once a source of continuing suffering and an antidote to that suffering.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fistfight In Heaven

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Nobody can give everything away. It ain’t healthy,” (Alexie 33). Sherman Alexie’s book of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, focuses on the life of Native Americans on the Spokane Reservation, specifically focusing on Victor, the main character. In the collection of stories, Victor learns about the damage caused by letting anyone other than himself control his life.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A&P Summary Questions

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    He is a nineteen year old young man, that is finding his way into life and society, he tries to be different from the dull and boring, he is also really interested in getting a girl and moving from where he ir. The way he is affects how he acts during the story.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven written by Sherman Alexie and A&P written by John Updike are stories that represent the social constraint’s felt by each of the protagonists. Alexie’s story and Updike’s story complement each other in their context and have a very similar theme. Alexie’s story is about a young man who is held down by the racial indifferences he has encountered throughout his life. In turn, these indifferences have caused distrust and a subtle hatred towards whites and authority figures. Victor, the protagonist of the story, makes references to the indifferences felt through the allusion and symbolism in the story. The representation of the symbolism and the interpretation used shows that Sherman himself is using his writing as a means to come to terms with these deep-rooted feelings. In Updike’s story, the tone is not as dark and dismal as Alexie’s, though there is a similarity in the context. A&P represents a young man who is tired of being oppressed by the mundane routines of life. The protagonist in this story sees his life passing him by as he works at a grocery market. The epiphany is realized and comes to light when three young women come into the store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The symbolism and allusion the writer uses in this story also signifies the repressed emotions of feeling trapped by the pressures that society has placed on him. Both stories connect on a thematic level which is the feeling of being held back by social constraints. However, these stories side by side each delivers different messages to the reader, and the allegory message of each story differs.…

    • 1677 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Howard Zinn

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Chapter 7 was titled “As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs” and it refers to how the Indians were the most foreign. Land between the Appalachians and Mississippi were cleared for white occupancy. They had called it the Indian removal. In the south it was cleared for cotton and in the north it was cleared for grain. Indians had fought alongside the British during the Revolutionary war, but since they were already on their own land, they kept fighting after the British had left. The Indians had to deal with a lot of mistreatment from the government and they made them feel as if they were aliens on their own land.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Another type of conflict that is present and dominant in this novel is man vs. man. In everyday life, people’s different personalities cause disagreements and arguments. As with any group of…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Writer, poet, and filmmaker Sherman Alexie published a book called, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993). His writing involves his experiences as a Native American growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The stories in the book consist of love, leadership, honor, connections to earth, and relation to animals. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is a spiritual character in the book. He lives in the realm of the spirit.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conflict will always be a part of human nature due to our complex make up and conflicting ideas and values. Whilst the inevitability of conflict brings much pain and suffering, it is not always a bad thing as it can allow for true heroes to arise and act in a way that benefits the greater good. Adversity brings out the best and worst in all people this means that there is a very thin line between a hero and a villain. An individual’s involvement in conflict is a matter of perspective; this means that one man’s hero could be another man’s villain. Although these individuals may be heroes during a time of conflict, the emotional suffering that they may have to endure in the aftermath may mean that their actions where done in vain.…

    • 610 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narratives are divided into fourteen chapters, which supply historical document and secondary essays placing these documents within their historical context. Each chapter unfolds 1 OUR HEARTS FELL TO THE GROUND to show the tragedy the Plains Indian had to endure from the white settlers and their greed for land and prosperity.…

    • 559 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    5.05 Jack London

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What is the central conflict of the story? What is the source of the struggle?…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays