Salesmen Squared

Salesman Squared
Everyone in the world can easily fall into a stereotype. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a stereotype is, “to believe unfairly that all people... with a particular characteristic are the same" ("stereotype" par.1). Sherman Alexie writes stories that allow him to expose the stereotypes of Native American Indians. In "Flight Pattern," William is aware of the Native American Indian stereotypes and attempts to not fall into it. In "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," Jackson embodies the stereotype and embraces it; he is proud to be the typical Native American Indian. Sherman Alexie creates two characters, William and Jackson, with personal motivation to find their place in the world.

William is aware of what the Native American Indian stereotypes are, which motivates him to not smoke, drink, or eat junk food. He avoids these vices as a way of proving that he is not the typical Native American Indian. However immediately after this statement, Alexie provides an image of William braiding, "his long black hair into two tight braids" (104), one of the most prominent stereotypes expected from a Native American Indian. William measured his life by imaginary numbers: by the amount of money he had in his bank account, the interest rate on his mortgage and the stock markets ups and downs. Investing his money in socially responsible funds was a privilege of choice typical for the white man that William tried so hard to represent; this view was opposite of the always-broke Indian who did not work or have any money. William expresses pride for himself and his culture by focusing on the fact that he is a Native American Indian with "ten thousand more reasons to terrorize the U.S." and pointing out how he has actively made the decision to be an American citizen with "kindness and moral decency and awesome ability to forgive" (112). He also indicates his complete disgust with the concept of profiling, stating that people “sniff” around him when he travels because he is a “little brown guy” (108). However, William profiles others, getting caught up in his physical impressions of people while focusing on doing everything he can to not fall into the stereotypes of the Native American Indian.

William is judgmental of himself. He is attempting to be the white man who he in turn also stereotypes. He especially finds it amusing watching “the white people enduring random security checks” (43). William feels proud of being a Native American Indian although he does not display it in a worldly fashion. He just wants to blend with the rest of society while still maintaining his cultural integrity. He does not intentionally “insult” (110) people; all he wants from society is “the world to be a fair and decent place” (110). William struggles to break the patterned stereotype of his career by creating a wall that separates him from really expressing himself and loving his family to his highest potential. His inability to handle and overcome what he lacks holds him back from truly expressing himself. William battles between work and home making him indecisive to which one was more important as he realizes, “he spends one third of his life trying to sleep in uncomfortable beds and one third of his life trying to stay awake in airports” (109). William has created for himself the patterns of an obsessive-compulsive workaholic. He is so stuck in his work pattern that no matter how unwilling he is to leave his family to travel, he always rationalizes and leaves. His motivation is to not be a stereotypical Native American Indian.
Jackson represents everything that William fights against, by fully embracing the qualities of the stereotypical Native American Indian. Alexie sets this up by providing first person commentary from Jackson's perspective of where he grew up, how he worked, loved, lost and spiraled into drinking, smoking and ending in homelessness. Jackson even indicates, "being homeless is probably the only thing [he's] ever been good at" (170). Jackson boasts on the clout he has as a homeless Indian and how, “[he has] made friends with restaurant and convenient store owners who let [him] use… the employee bathrooms” (170). Jackson is a strong man and knows that silence is the best way to deal with white man. With no true sense of the value of material things or money, no matter how hard he tries to get the money to buy his grandmothers regalia from the pawnshop, he keeps spending his money on other people. Usually it is just to get himself and everyone else drunk, but he still shares the money he gets with the other Indians he meets. Jackson, who is in-tune with being a Native American Indian, jokes, “we Indians have built-in-pawn house radar” (171). In this moment, he provides reference to his sense of humor. The main way Jackson accepts himself is through drinking - spending money on “three bottles of inspiration…to figure out how to raise all that money” (174), expressing the typical Native American Indian that drinking is an important part of planning.
In the beginning of the story, Jackson is introduced as having an ordinary background that unravels after he fails at the chance of a college education. “One day you have a home and the next you don’t,” (169) clearly summarizes Jackson’s situation. Jackson maintains a frugal attitude toward the money he finds, earns, or is given, willingly spending it on himself or other people who drift in and out of the story; Alexie shows how drunkenness and inability to handle money is an unfortunate part of the stereotype surrounding Native American Indians. Jackson's encounters with those he meets raise questions about what it means to give and receive, and what responsibilities he has to those he serves, “it’s an Indian thing, when we win we… share with our family” (181). The Native American Indian doesn’t understand the importance of material things because he lives off the land. And Jackson's view in the beginning is that he did not have money and he accepts being homeless and doesn't really push to want more.

In the characters of William and Jackson, Alexie has created two salesmen: one who attempts to live the life of a white salesman, and one who embodies the traits (unknowingly) of a salesman. William dresses in a suit, vest and tie, works a 9 to 5 job and goes through the action of a businessman. He tries to sell things to people like a white businessman would, without fully understanding what he is selling. In contrast, part of Jackson's personality is that he is a salesman - his personality allows him to sell himself to everyone willing to listen. He comes across as being a trustworthy individual and this is how he works his magic.

Alexie challenges stereotypical ideas of Native American Indians through classifying ways in which their culture makes them more like Americans, such as the way in which money is not as important as relationships. Alexie makes the reader see that Jackson embraces being a Native American Indian, while William proves he doesn't want to be a stereotype of the Native American Indian. This is especially evident by William's conversation with the cab driver, “I am a victim of only one misguided idea about who I am” (117), and “We’re all trapped by other people’s ideas” (117). Sherman Alexie creates two characters, William and Jackson, each struggling to find their place in the world.