Literary Analysis Of What You Pawn I Will Redeem

Jackson wouldn’t say why he was homeless. He said it was his secret and that Indians had to work hard at keeping their secrets. I think Jackson was proud to be homeless because he also said that “being

Working thesis: In Sherman Alexie's brief tale, "What you Pawn I Will Redeem", Individuals struggle endlessly to satisfy the natural void inside them; with connections, cash, getting drunk–doing anything that they feel will improve their circumstances. Jackson is no special case to this scenario in human life. Jackson's story discloses his mission to fill his void. He needs to feel like he is connected to his people’s way of life and he does this by attempting to win back his grandma's formal

Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?

Jackson emphasizes each situation with irony to one, add a little suspense and two, add a twist to each ending.

Homelessness is an issue that many unfortunate individuals struggle to cope with . These people are often ignored by society . Some homeless people do not respond well to outreach groups because they have fully lost trust in humanity. In the Grapes of Wrath , farmers must move west looking for job opportunities and permanent lodging. In the novel Steinbeck portrays the Joad family as one of these group of people. They are willing to undertake any type of job, in order to achieve the American Dream . The main reasons why people are displaced can be due to a nation’s economic situation, climatic state, and the sheer fact that politicians in charge ignore the needs of the common man. Homelessness is still a relevant problem today because it

History repeats itself. Your history teachers say it all the time. But why is history this omois presence of past problems that seem to repeat? Why do the same flaws continue to appear over and over again? It is because induviduals shape soceity.

I don’t remember what happened after that” (Alexie). This aligns with Campbell’s theory when he said, “The agony of breaking through personal limitations is the agony of spiritual growth” (163). Jackson must fight off his demons before he can successfully complete his mission and be the hero. He needs to find clarity and clean up his act. Even though Jackson does not seem like a hero he does possess heroic qualities; he’s kind, cares for others, and has a good heart. But none of that means anything if he cannot come to terms with his demons, reach spiritual growth, and complete his

Something remarkable has happened to the spectacle of the street-dwelling poor in the two decades since it reappeared on the public stage: Homelessness became domesticated routine; an all-but-expected feature of the urban landscape. No longer cause for vocal concern, let alone outrage, it has been integrated into that cheerless diorama of un-abashed wealth and relentless poverty that now passes for “normalcy “in American cities. (Hopper, 2003, p. 193)

The narrator is living in Seattle with his white girlfriend. They fight constantly. After a bad fight he imagines that they are an Indian chief and a missionaries wife on an Indian reservation. Their romance starts a war between the whites and the Indians. The next day he breaks up with her and moves back to the reservation.

One can conclude that the homeless Indians provides fact that living from day to day, surviving on their own wiz and alcohol. Some Indians have no purpose in life. At some point in life these individuals give up. They seem to have good memories but a very short attention span. Once Indians have their Native American mind set on something rarely until they accomplish their task or goal to complete their mission. There are many homeless Indians in the state of Washington. For example Jackson Jackson who set out to retrieve his grandmother’s regalia. Because he felt like that yellow bead that identified his grandmother’s dress was a part of him. He did not know how but he knew he had to get it back some kind of way.

The reason to why he is homeless is unknown as he has decided to keep that his secret. He is a loyal Spokane Indian. “I never dated or married more than one woman at a time” (Alexie 9) His actions throughout the story prove him to be unpredictable as we don’t know whether to trust him or not. “…we Indians are great storytellers and liars, and mythmakers…” (Alexie 9) This is an early warning for us not to believe everything and that he is untrustworthy. Yet we find that he has made good friends during his homeless years that do trust him. “I know it sounds strange to be proud of this, but it means a lot to me, being trustworthy enough to piss in somebody else’s clean bathroom. (Alexie 9) We begin by following him on his daily routine where he wanders the streets with his friends. One day he walked past a pawn shop and noticed that his grandmother’s stolen regalia was on display. He met with the pawnbroker and the pawnbroker decided to give him a chance to recuperate the regalia by buying it for $999 and even gave him $20 to start off

This story took me by surprise. After reading I'm determined to focus on the theme, structure and the character's choice. The main theme of the story is of a homeless men named Jackson. He's an Indian men who was born in Spokane and currently living in Seattle. At the time he is homeless and have been homeless for more than six years. Jackson is no fool and could have been successful if he weren't homeless. He enjoys the company of his friends and loves to drink alcohol. I define him as an alcoholic who barely is surviving the streets. The story is set on a time line, that follows an hourly structure. During this time Jackson uses it to search for money in order to pay for her grandmother's

Ms. Blanton discusses the time that she was homeless. She became suicidal and wanted to kill herself. She lived inside a van in a parking lot, but she was also a writer. She began to receive recognition and became a working writer.

Jackson is no stranger to dysfunction; she grows up with her mother telling her she was the product of a failed abortion and makes it very evident that she thinks Jackson is plain and ugly. Jackson is raised unloved and remains so even after she leaves home and gets married. Jackson marries Stanley Hyman, a Jewish college professor who is just as cruel to Jackson as is her own mother; he thinks it funny to parade his countless affairs in

From the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, I want to talk about this protagonist because his qualities of kindness are noteworthy. He is an Indian boy who lived in Spokane for around 10 years and moved to Seattle due to college. After learning for about 6 months, he dropped out to work in an industry, got married and had children, and finally became crazy which lead to addiction to alcoholism and homelessness. “I’ve been homeless for six years now. If there’s such a thing as an effective homeless man, then I suppose I’m effective. Being homeless is probably the only thing I’ve ever been good at” (1). He has been homeless for so long, and thought that it is the only talent he got. Although this protagonist is homeless, he still could find the benefits of living as homeless. In addition, he has a mission to get his grandmother’s regalia back from a pawnshop, which is worthwhile for him, because it is so hard to find or to make one. Despite his