Short Story This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona

Tribal Ties Sherman Alexies short story “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” tells a story about Victor, a broken, lonely young Indian man, who is shaped by the circumstances of the reservation. He not only finds out that he lost his job but also that his father has passed away due to a heart attack. These series of unfortunate events lead Victor his childhood friend Thomas Build-the-Fire to embark on a journey to Arizona to obtain Victor’s father’s ashes. Although the two former friends haven’t talked in years they both set out to find closure. In this short story the setting plays a very important role because it emphasizes the social circumstances of the reservation life through character, tone and symbolism. In order to really understand the story we have to understand the characters. Alexie depicts Victor as a round dynamic character, he is well developed and close to the action of the story but with the help of Thomas build-the-fire we see Victor open up more towards the end of the story. Victor didn’t really have any ties to his culture. Unlike Victor, Thomas is more of a traditional Indian, he follows more a stereotype. Thomas is more of a complex character, and he is influenced strongly by his
Victor and Thomas are both lonesome people who have lost a lot in the world. They come together and embark on a journey of self-realization. Although in the end we know they don’t stay friends, we know that they have both found closure through each other. Sherman Alexie does a great job creating characters such as Victor and Thomas, who make the story come to life. Alexie’s use of setting in this short story plays a very important role because it emphasizes the social circumstances of the reservation life through character, tone and