How Generational Trauma In The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven

Scott Russell Sanders’ “Under the Influence” is about a family growing up with alcoholism, mental and physical abuse. When Sanders was very young, he didn’t recognize that his father was an alcoholic, but as he grew older, he saw the bloodshot eyes, hiding alcohol, the deceptions, and the dual personalities of an alcoholic. “My father drank. He drank as a gut-punched boxer gasps for breath, as a starving dog gobbles food—compulsively, secretly, in pain and trembling.” (215). Sanders story starts at the end, where his father dies from alcoholism. The turmoil and fear this family suffered because of their father’s alcoholism, is a story a lot of families are familiar with.

Identity in Native America is directly associated with culture and language. As a result, some of the issues today which are important in shaping the identity of modern Native Americans include: representations of native people by the media in sports and popular culture; how indigenous languages are being revitalized and maintained; and identity reclamation. The Native American lifestyle has changed significantly during the last half of the 20th century and that is because views on the Native people have drastically changed over time. They have had many hardships that have greatly impacted their culture over the past few centuries leading up to today.

Throughout “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” the theme of resilience is deliberately presented. Native Americans past and present continue to face stifling issues such as racism, alcoholism, isolation and suicide. Sherman Alexie makes it his obligation in his stories and poems to show Native American resiliency through humor. By using his characters to show resiliency through humor Alexie presents humor as an integral part of Native American survival.

and presents a paradox with which the native writers must grapple. The pathetic city drunks and

Alcohol has always been one of the most profitable industries in the business world. More than $400 billion worth of alcohol purchased in the US alone in 2013 according to an economic website. Alcohol is a common figure where it can be easily spot in every household to grand restaurants, however, it is a huge factor contributed to the death rate each year. It has ruined an innumerable number of people lives due to excessive drinking or affect by an alcoholic person. In his book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Sherman Alexie emphasizes how significance alcohol can affect a teenager life, where Junior, the main protagonist has lost 3 family members because of alcohol. He shows that alcoholic should not be taken as a

“Alcohol addiction stunts the spiritual, emotional and mental growth of a person”~Anonymous. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a book based off the author’s teenage life. The novel is about a poor 14 year old named Junior who faced numerous challenges in his life. Junior has experienced bullying, he was called a traitor for following his dreams, got in a huge fight with his best friend and lost three very important people in his life because of alcohol. Fortunately in the end, Junior got through the pain and lived on but he learned many lessons. One of the lessons Junior learned was that the fall into addiction, in this situation alcohol, leads to a great deal of misery for the individual and those

Analysis of Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven' and 'Smoke Signals'

Alcoholism is defined as an addiction to the indulgence of alcoholic liquor and the compelling behaviour which results from alcohol dependency. In the novel “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese and the essay “Mother’s Milk” by Christie Blatchford, the reasoning behind and dire repercussions of alcohol abuse are evident through the characters Eldon Starlight and Christie’s mother. However, Eldon’s reason for alcoholism is much more traumatic and its effect on both himself and those around him is of greater severity as opposed to Christie’s mother. As a teenager Christie’s mother suffers from social nervousness and uses alcohol as a means of reducing her anxiety, whereas Eldon begins drinking after he was forced to leave his home as his mother chose her abusive husband over him. After Christie was born her mother began drinking at a higher degree while Eldon’s alcoholism heightens after he must kill his only friend to ensure his own survival. Occasionally Christie’s mother would quit alcohol for around a month’s time and her health would improve, contrastingly Eldon’s attempt to abstain from alcohol lasts only a couple of days and results in the deterioration of his health. Despite her alcoholism Christie’s mother lives past the age of 80 and even outlives her husband by 15 years, on the other hand due to his alcohol abuse Eldon suffers from liver failure which results in his early death. Her mother’s

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Unfortunately Native Americans have deep roots with racism and oppression during the last 500 years. “In The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven,” Sherman Alexie tries to show racism in many ways in multiple of his short stories. These stories, engage our history from a Native American viewpoint. Many Native Americans were brutally forced out of their homes and onto Reservations that lacked resources. Later, Indian children were taken from their families and placed into school that were designed to, “Kill the Indian, save the man.” In the book there are multiple short story that are pieces that form a larger puzzle that shows the struggles and their effects on Native Americans. Sherman Alexie shows the many sides of racism, unfair justice and extermination policies and how imagination is key for Native American survival.

In “The Shining”, written by Steven King, the reader is exposed to an issue that a lot of families face in the real world that of which is alcoholism. The story’s main character, Jack Torrance, struggles from this issue due to his troubled past regarding an abusive and alcoholic father as well as his struggle of becoming the very man he loved, yet hated as a child. By exposing the reader to alcoholism, they are instantly aware of the outcomes of it and how it can affect someone. King uses this method to help enhance the story, to allow the contents of the book to become real and relatable to the reader, and most importantly, to allow the reader to actually sympathize with the main characters.

Although Victor’s family was one of the most distinguished of the republic of Geneva and his parents were possessed by the “very spirit of kindness / And indulgence,” (Shelley 39) his days were not filled with happiness. His troubled past started the day Elizabeth caught scarlet fever, delaying his departure for Ingolstadt. Although Victor’s mother, Caroline, was able to cure her, she died in her place. The destruction of a dear bond by an irreparable evil surely would have caused anyone to suffer, but as time came, Caroline’s death became “rather an / Indulgence than a necessity” (Shelley 45) to Victor; it was nothing more than something that delayed his departure for Ingolstadt. Because Victor is in a situation where he no longer has control, his psyche must carry the burden

In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven shows the struggles of daily Native American life, which is shown through the point of view of male character. All though out the book the following three questions appear: ‘What does it mean to live as an Indian in this time? What does it mean to be an Indian man? and What does it mean to live on an Indian reservation?’ Alexie uses literary devices such as point of view, imagery, characterization to make his point that the conflict of being an Indian in the U.S. in these short stories using the following short stories “An Indian Education” and “Amusement”. “An Indian Education” uses both imagery and characterization to show us what the narrator is

“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.” - Peter A. Levine, Ph.D. In Sherman Alexie’s collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, we read stories of Native American struggles for survival in an American society designed to keep Native Americans locked in the cycle of intergenerational trauma. Alexie illustrates the importance of rejecting intergenerational trauma as a method of survival, by isolating the two main causes intergenerational trauma becomes inescapable and giving examples that showcase the impact of attempting to survive the cycle. Through the interpretation of multiple sources, it becomes clear that the inescapability of intergenerational trauma is the outcome of internalized oppression and pessimism.

In Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven’ (2005 edition) alcoholism plays a huge role throughout the book. Particularly in the short stories ‘Amusement’, ‘The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore’ and ‘A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result’. Kids on the reservation always start off good with school and sports keeping them busy, but somewhere along the way they always seem to fall off track. That is why things like basketball play such a huge role in their lives; distracting them from partying, drinking, and drugs. If just one person could make it out of there with a scholarship or something of that sort they would have hope. Victor being one of the most talked about character in these stories is a clear example of how his drinking problem affected him. In spite of that fact drinking affects every Indian on the reservation, if they haven’t drank, they’ve been around it all their lives. These stories help support why alcohol plays such a major role in their lives.