Oh What A Beautiful Mobin Analysis

One of the themes used in the book is of racism towards the Natives. An example used in the book is of Edward Sheriff Curtis who was a photographer of 1900s. Curtis was interested in taking pictures of Native people, but not just any Native person. “Curtis was looking for the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the imaginative construct” (King, 2003; pp. 34). He used many accessories to dress up people up “who did not look as the Indian was supposed to look” (King, 2003; pp.34). He judged people based on his own assumptions without any knowledge of the group and their practices. Curtis reduced the identity of the Native Americans to a single iconic quintessential image of what Native meant to white society. The idea related to the image of this group of people during the 1900s consisted of racism in terms of the “real looking Indian”. This is not

In 1943, the musical Oklahoma!, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, influenced the artistic style of American musical theatre. The integration of music, book, dance, and design provided a new foundation for the future of Broadway. The musical illustrates the 1940s lifestyle by capturing the essence of rural America during World War II. Americans were at their rock bottom, as the Great Depression wiped them of all things good. Additionally, some of the most vivid and abrupt changes in the history of American civilization occurred, reshaping society forever. America at war and eight million Americans unemployed in the continuing depression, feared for safety of loved ones abroad fighting for freedom. These things affected American life intensely in 1940s. (Brinkley, 1994). Fortunately, Oklahoma! gave people the opportunity to escape from the real world for the duration of the show.

The movie, filmed in 2007, depicts the lives of the Sioux Indians as if they were not a people that mattered. In the movie, they say, “the Indians lived like the poorest of whites.” They were pushed around and told repeatedly they could not stay on their own land. This was due to the Westward Expansion in the United States at the time. By 1876, most of the American Indians had already been forcibly relocated to reservation land. Red Cloud, a Sioux leader, settled with some of his tribe on the Sioux Reservation of the Dakota Territory and took the aid of the US government. When this happened, other Sioux leaders, such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, saw it as a surrender. These leaders refused to assimilate and went on to live life in their traditional way. Unfortunately, this all changed when the US found gold on Sioux land in the Black Hills. The movie tells the story of the Sioux Indians fight to try to remain in control of their own lives and stay on their own land. Then when they no longer can, the movie shows their path to surrendering to the whites and assimilating into the American culture.

American Indian life in the present time can be characterized as one big melting pot. Some societies try to preserve their own identity, while other groups came together in some way and brought their cultures together. A lot of what is known about their music has come from the past century when technological advancements were just beginning to take place. It was also during this period of time that there was a lot of turmoil between the whites. It was obvious that each tribe had its own musical identity, whether it dealt with style, uses of, or ideas of what music was. At that time there were thousands of groups, all speaking their own language, and each had several songs to accompany ceremonies, dances, and to divide society. Anthropologists have put them into categories according to their ways of life.

It talked about the way the Sioux were treated and what the government did. “Three Stars Crook were prowling the country north and west of the Black Hills killing indians wherever they could be found.” is an example of what the government did when they killed the Indians. Miners crossing their land shows how the Sioux were treated because the government tried to take the gold even though they are the ones that said the Black Hills were off-limits.

The author, Sherman Alexie, is a Native American novelist, born on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. In his short story, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” Alexie makes the argument that Native Americans are being negatively portrayed, mistreated and stereotyped in our country and by our government. Alexie uses a character born in the same Reservation in Washington, giving him more credibility for the arguments he makes, through the character. The audience Alexie chooses this essay for is primarily American Indians, although immigrants and minorities are a secondary audience, who many, can relate to the stereotyping and negative treatment of our government. Throughout the story, Alexie uses emotional appeal of pathos and the ethical appeal of ethos, as tools to get his point across. The words chosen in the essay by the author are clear, simple, and the story is put together carefully and easy to understand for the target audience. In the short story Alexie uses flashback to think back about experiences the character in the story went through. The narrator also recounts a dream, which is an allegorical representation of how he believes people portray him with his girlfriend and insecurities he has in their relationship. The dream explains the psychological effect that years of stereotyping and mistreatment has had on him. The narrator has always had weird dreams, but they turn to nightmares while he is living with her in Seattle. The

In the book, there are two key characters who particularly value the old oral traditions, Thomas and Samuel. In many ways, they represent the struggles within Native American communities to keep traditions alive. In the novel, the majority of the younger generations aren't interested in listening to traditional stories but the ones who are, are often made fun of or left behind. Even though the other boys make fun of Thomas and tell him to stop telling his stories he doesn't listen and continues to tell stories. This shows that

Unlike the image that Turner represents in his Frontier Thesis, Native Americans played a large role in the formation of America 's history. Turner continuously undermines their presence, referring to them mostly in passing and never giving their race much credit. When discussing the presence of different animals and people on the frontier, he ranks them only one step above animals, saying “watch the procession of civilization marching single file – the buffalo following the trail to the salt springs, the Indian, the fur-trader and hunter, the cattle-raiser, the pioneer farmer – and the frontier has passed by.” In saying this, Turner is conveying the imagery that Indians are altogether their own species, not quite animals but neither human enough to be included in what he would consider the presence of man.

Maps such as the map of the “Southern Campaigns of the War of 1812”, where the U.S army appears to be fighting all by themselves, are testament to how much Indians are neglected. In reality, Indian had great power and influence, whether in trade or wars, just like Chief, who is a big man. Chief was ignored by other people in the same way Indians are in American history. It could be possible that the movie was trying to protest against the lack of attention for Indians in contemporary American history

The “white man” made the Indians lose hope for their land future. The film said that the Indians’ land was important to them. Leaving their land is leaving what connects them to their family, livestock, and culture which to them is like losing their soul. This is a relatable idea because leaving an area that you grew up in is difficult for most. In today society, people being forced to relocate is typically seen in response to natural disasters like fires or hurricanes. When people having to relocate because a fire is coming toward their home, it is hard for them to leave especially knowing that there is a possibility that they will never return. The documentary has certain scenes where they will have a photo slideshow of the Indians with music in the background. These scenes are meant to produce a reaction out of the audience. The documentary basically ends with a cliffhanger by ending with the idea that the Indians will fight for their land. Filmmakers should have included what happened with the land in the end credits or at least had a scene that portrays the result. From watching the documentary, I learned that the Indians were treated unfairly by the

2. The central theme in the novel Reservation Blues, tells the story of several Native Americans who start a band on an Indian Reservation near Spokane Washington. The band encounters many allies and adversaries along the way, but sometimes it is difficult to tell who genuinely wants to help the band and who wants to take something from them. Victor and Junior have been friends all their life and for as long as they can remember, they have enjoyed picking on Thomas. Nevertheless, Thomas asks Victor to become the lead guitarist and Junior to become the

Some of the symbolism used by Alexie are subtle enough that the readers may have to read between the lines, but each symbol used represents a bigger issues within the Indian Reservations. The first use of symbolism that I noticed as I read this collection, can be found within the title The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. “The Lone Ranger”, I believe, refers to a Western television show that used stereotypes in order to portray Native Americans. More often than not, children want to be the cowboys when engaging in the game “Cowboys and Indians”, because it is always portrayed on television as being the winning side in any conflict that occurs between the two groups of people. A story that demonstrates a usage of typical Native American stereotypes is “Crazy Horse Dreams”, in which a woman is looking for the perfect “Crazy Horse Indian” to sleep with so that she may connect to her beloved Indian roots. However, due to the stereotypes she let herself believe she never really finds this type of Indian and instead settles for Victor who at one point tells her, in reference to wanting to connect to her Indian roots, that “You’re nothing important… You’re just another goddamned Indian like me” (pg. 41). As the stories progress we see the usage of stereotypes via the Indians and the shows they watch on television such as “The Brady Bunch”, and the lack of interest the Native Americans have in conforming to the Western

John Wayne may be one of the most widely recognized figures of the Midwest. That time of high noon gun duels, free men, and most importantly, massive conflict with Native Americans. The use of John Wayne as a central plot point helps to immediately pull the reader into understanding the deep analogy and purpose of the poem. “Dear John Wayne” represents the deep struggle Native Americans faced (and continue to face) throughout the bulk of American history. For instance, the begging of the poem describes moviegoers preparing for the night with “Slow-burning spirals” in hopes of discouraging the mosquitoes from attacking them, most likely representing the native Americans trying to keep settlers at bay. Thereafter, the following stanzas represent

The dynamic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein are often considered to have fathered of the “golden age” of musical theater; a distinct and radical departure in musical story telling that had not previously been conceived. Their first venture, Oklahoma!, was inspired by the 1931 stage play, Green Grow the Lilacs, by Cherokee author, poet, and playwright, Rollie Lynn Riggs. Despite the success of this musical adaptation, one must consider Oklahoma! in relation to its source material; although Rodgers and Hammerstein proved to redefine the genre, the eventual product was radically different from the play on which it was based. The changes made by the duo induce an entirely different tone, presenting the audience with a whitewashed display, rather than Rigg’s childhood observations of the social, legal and cultural changes that took place in the midst of Oklahoma’s impending statehood.

Just to recap on the story, a homeless Indian man living in a big city trying to be the hero by gaining back possession of his family heirloom. Throughout his journey in the city of Seattle Washington he comes across many Indian and city natives to help him come up with the funds the pawn shop order ask of him. Because of his homelessness and being in a big city made the challenges that much harder along with him being a drunk. I feel that if he had put the setting of his story on the reservation that he belongs to, the outcome would not have been as good of a story. The reader could not relate to the character unless they were part of the Indian tribe, but since he places the story in a populated area, a relatable scenery, I can read along with Jackson and walk right along beside him looking at the train tracks where he was awakened by the officer, I feel like I was in the bar with him with all his cousins.