Arrow Of God And Smoke Signals

In the movie Smoke Signals the writer Sherman Alexie frequently shows stereotypes of the Native American people and shows the audience why the stereotypes are not true or meaningful. Focusing on the character Thomas, the film portrays him like he would be the stereotypical Indian sitting around the campfire telling stories. I think the film did a good job trying to show that, as he is often telling stories and he is even guided by his dreams making him seem like a spiritual person.

Character is a key literacy device that is used in this short story. Alexia uses Thomas-Builds-the- Fire to develop the character of Victor. Both Thomas-Builds the Fire and Victor are important components to the story and its development. Victor and Thomas both grew up on the Indian reservation. Each character faced hardships throughout their childhood. Victors father left at an early age and Thomas’s mother died during childbirth .Thomas can relate to

Both The Odyssey and “Jack in the Beanstalk” include hero archetypes that show the protagonists using their courage, wisdom and wit to save people and both exemplify and point back to the “One Story” theory.

The selection of Ezeulu as a potential Warrant Chief is typical of the kind of selection regularly made by the British - a man who was already in the possession of real authority and wealth in his community. However, the responses of those chosen were not always as idealistic as Ezeulu’s. Many Igbos jumped at the chance of some real power, safe in the knowledge that they were backed by British officials, and Warrant chiefs became notorious for their corruption and exploitation. Speaking of the Warrant Chief he has instigated in Okperi, Winterbottom exclaims:

SUMMARY Mordaunt describes how the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe deals with the problem ofpersonal conflict in his novel "Arrow of God". The main character in this novel is Ezeulu, who is chiefpriest of the god Ulu, of the village of Umuaro. Ezeulu comes into conflict with himself in a quest to hold on to power despite his high age and the break-through of the British colonial administrators. Ezeulu wants to control both his people and the British administrators. Ezeulu believes the clan will silently follow him and the British will

Victor Joseph’s portrayal of the classic Native American man is exemplified by Alexie’s use of dialogue, costumes, and flashbacks. For example, when Victor sees Thomas smiling as they ride their way to Arizona he says, “Indians ain’t supposed to smile like that. Get stoic” (Smoke Signals). This example of dialogue reveals how Victor believes a Native American man should present himself traditionally, which strongly contrasts with Thomas’s demeanor and appearance. Victor continues on, saying, “Look at your hair, it’s all braided up and stuff. You gotta free it. An Indian man ain’t nothing without his hair.” (Smoke Signals). Hair design is used to symbolize Victor’s close ties with his ancestral past as a Native American. Additionally, Victor’s comment on hair foreshadows when Victor himself cuts his hair, symbolizing a moment in which Victor embraces his traumatic past by accepting who he is as a person. In a more literal sense, flashbacks are also used to symbolize the trauma that Victor experienced in his direct past - living with an alcoholic father, Arnold Joseph, who abandoned him. However, by the end of the movie, Victor embraces this past through the spreading of his father’s ashes.

Archetypes are universal symbols used in literature to represent fundamental human motifs. In the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hero must undergo archetypal situations to succeed in his quest to redeem the honor of Camelot. Gawain embodies the transcendent hero as he further goes into “The Zone of Magnified Power” (Campbell 71) then faces conflict resulting from the threat placed on the society. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight dramatically demonstrates how a single character can play many archetypal roles.

With every corner we turn in today’s culture, we become more and more aware of the archetypes that surround us. Archetypes are the works of a typical character, situation, setting, or symbol that can be found in fantasy and reality. An example would be the renowned medieval story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet. The author permeates the story with situational, symbolic, and character archetypes that illustrate the profound life of Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was apprehensive of his journey at first, but as time passes, he began to make choices that unveils to the audience the true flawed knight that he was.

Archetypes are defined as “a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.” (“Archetype”) The short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien is about the internal struggle and the journey he faces after he is drafted to serve the army. The classical hero’s journey archetype is similar to Tim O’Brien’s journey in his short story, “On the Rainy River,” with the exception of the arc length and depth of transformation.

A hero is born is how every story starts with the same story, climax, and ending, but with this specific story this hero wasn’t born he was created. Throughout the book and the cases being fought, Bryan Stevenson is the hero; the man in quest of justice. His motive and moral code is defending the innocents and protecting their lives within the corrupt justice system. With each case, he begins to see what he is capable of and how he holds the lives of these people. Such examples would be the puritans, acknowledging their sins and trying to be redeemed by God. However, finding redemption comes with difficulties in their path to gain their redemption. Although, for Bryan Stevenson he is trying to find the innocence in these felons on death

Native Americans are mostly judged by their addictions and the battles they fought. They are not normally judged by the hardships they had to face. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Smoke Signals show that these struggles are real. In his book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and his movie, Smoke Signals, Sherman Alexie wrote about the challenges of being a Native American. Diary and Smoke Signals are similar because they both showed many family problems throughout the story lines. Also, they are similar in that the families faced difficulty with alcohol addiction. They differ because in Diary, the main character, Junior, adapts to his new school that has all white students while in Smoke Signals, Victor tries not to interact with anyone outside his race.

The “hero’s journey”, coined by Joseph Campbell, is a pattern in the plot structure of literature, myths, and oral tradition in which the hero is consistently faced with similar obstacles and achieves many of the same goals. The first part of the hero’s journey is “The Call.” The hero is usually living a very comfortable and easy life, unaware of the journey ahead. The hero is then faced with a situation or dilemma which eventually causes them to seek change. The hero, at this point, tends to refuse the call to adventure in fear of the unknown. Once the hero has been given the strength to push past the unknown, they have entered the threshold. The hero will experience many challenges and temptations where the hero is tested, eventually reaching “The Abyss,” the most difficult challenge. The hero is then transformed by these trials and returns home to every-day life and begins to contribute to their society. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, experiences the hero’s journey first-hand through overcoming obstacles and transforming herself. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the heroine Janie overcomes many obstacles and is therefore transformed into a self reliant woman.

The movie Smoke Signals is based on the series of short stories written by Sherman Alexie. Just like any movie, there is a meaning to it. Before this movie, when I thought of the phrase "Native American" I thought of things like feathers and societies that were impeccable. But after watching the movie, Smoke Signals, it portrays what being a Native American really means. It is not all fun and games. The protagonist, Victor Joseph, has many hard aspects of his life, but throughout it all he grows mentally. His personality in the beginning of the movie is mean and despicable, he is filled with wrath, but as the movie goes on his personality grows gradually. By the ending of the movie, he was a nicer and kinder.

Have you ever noticed a similar pattern in the outcome of a variety of literary works? A hero's journey is a journey that the hero of the story takes and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed. Many authors, such as John Updike, Sylvia Plath, and Alice Walker, show this ideal through some of their literary works. Although they may seem different, they all have a hero trying to settle a conflict in order to reach their main goal. In each of these stories, we are able to see a change in character by the protagonist. Authors such as Updike, Plath, and Walker, use literary devices such as imagery, setting, and allusion in their stories to show a journey that a their main character is taking. The hero of

Later in the novel, at Ezeudu’s funeral, Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and killed Ezeudu’s son. Despite all of Okonkwo’s efforts to appear masculine and strong he commits a crime that is considered “female, because it had been inadvertent” (13.13). Because of this Okonkwo is exiled to his motherland where he is welcomed by his mother’s brother, Uchendu. With his exile, Okonkwo is stripped of all his titles and has to rebuild all of his prosperities anew. In this way he is similar to his father, as his father was “a man who had taken no title” (2.12). Okonkwo feels as though “his life had been ruled by passion [...] then everything had been broken” (14.8). Being exiled because of an accidental crime was out of Okonkwo’s control but had a greater effect on his life than choosing to rule “his household with a heavy hand” (2.14). This parallels Umuofia’s struggle with colonisation. The Igbo people have no control of whether the white missionaries arrive or not and force a new religion and government onto them. That strong change is also like starting life anew.