Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

In Sherman Alexies The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in promised land, the past is never really past. The aftershocks of 500 years of internal American persecution, oppression, and neglect continue to haunt the world of the reservation, in the form of alcoholism, scantiness, and familial dysfunction. In vomit upe of all this-or perchance 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 hatful translateking-serve to renew commit, and strengthen the bonds of the community. Thus, the past is both a annihilative and a redemptive force within the novel. It is at formerly a source of continuing suffering and an antidote to that suffering. These ii opposing forces are best represented by 2 of the novels principal characters: skipper and doubting 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 conflagrate; the tragedy of the past begets the tragedy of the present, pain begets pain. It is an endless and unflagging 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 courageousness and sacrifice, and in such a past he sees hope for the future. For each man, the past holds a diametrical meaning, and a different potential; where one sees only decay, the other sees the possibility for rebirth. In the first few pages of the novel Victor lays out his legal opinion in the power of the past to wreak havoc on the present, Their...anger had not died. Instead, it moved from Indian to Indian...giving each a specific, pesky memory. Victors father remembered the time his own father was spit on as they waited for a bus in Spokane. Victors mother remembered how the Indian... If you want to get a full essay, hunting lodge it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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