Short Story This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona

In the short story, “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, by Sherman Alexie, I looked at two characters: Thomas and Victor. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is a storyteller on a reservation who everyone ignores because they think he is crazy. Victor on the other hand is a guy who would not dare be seen talking to Thomas. Thomas knows that Victor is in need of help, but Victor will not admit it. I want to show how these two characters who are completely opposite of each other, come together during a time of need.

Thomas approaches Victor and offers his condolences. He tells Victor that he has money to lend him so he can make it to Phoenix. The only condition is that Victor must take Thomas with him. Victor tells Thomas that he can't accept his money and that they aren't even friends. Thomas replies “I didn't say we were friends. I said you had to take me with you.” (249). Victor says he'll think about it and goes home. When he arrives home, he is flooded with memories. After heavy consideration, Victor knows the only way he'll be able to claim his father's remains is to borrow the money from Thomas. He agrees to take Thomas along for the trip and the two men catch a plane to Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix also brought back memories of my deceased great-grandmother who suffered from a severe form of dementia. The emotion that I felt from the comparison involved a desire to escape the past association with my great-grandmother’s illness and on the same token it caused me to want to finish the story and to find that

Thomas Builds-the Fire values his Native American culture by being a spiritual person. He has prophetic vision and dreams of the future. Thomas Builds-the-Fire tells Victor stories about his father on the trip to Phoenix, Arizona. One of Thomas vision is he predict that Victor father’s going to leave before anyone knew what was going to happen. “Your father’s heart is weak. He is afraid of his own family. He is afraid of you. Late at night he sits in the dark. Watches the television until there’s nothing but that white noise. Sometimes he feels like he wants to buy a motorcycle and ride away. He wants to run and hide. He doesn’t want to be

The book “This Is What It Mean to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie illustrate friendship and care with both friends then she goes deep into Native American belief and culture. The way she show it in the book is Thomas show that he still cared for Victor though of what his father was going through in life and still wanted to keep a stronger friendship bond. The relationship between Thomas Builds-the Fire and Victor is intriguing. The trait that Thomas has of constantly story-telling is how history is passed on in many cultures, especially in the Native American culture. Even though their relationship changed over the years, he is still the one that Victor takes with him to Phoenix. I think the fact that Thomas had the money to go was

Thomas helps Victor by giving him his savings so that victor can go to Phoenix to claim his dead dad’s savings. “ He said I had to watch over you in return of him not telling anyone.” Thomas told Victor that once they were on their way to claim the money in the bank. Victor’s dad told Thomas to watch over victor

Thomas introduced himself by saying, “I’m half magician on my mother’s side and half clown on my father’s” (Alexie, “This Is What” 286). Many people laughed at that joke and Cathy thought it was funny also, so they continue to have a conversation. Even though Victor is embarrassed at Thomas’s attempts to continue to talk with her, they realize that Cathy is friendly and they all enjoy talking to each other. Another example is Thomas says “Sounds like you all got a lot in common with Indians” (Alexie, “This Is what 286”). This joke made the situation awkward because nobody thought was funny. That shows that not everything is a joke and could get the people around him offended or mad. When the plane lands, Victor felt the need to say sorry and get the feeling out of his chest so he apologizes for beating up Thomas. Soon later they arrive at Victor’s father’s trailer. Victor’s father’s body was not found for a week, so the trailer smelled really bad and it is really hard for Thomas and Victor to go in to sort through the man's things. While they are looking and going through the trailer they both are telling stories about how they helped one another and how they will have each other’s

Relationships often have a huge influence on our lives. Whether it’s family or close friends. Relationships can shape the way we walk through life and how we see or view the people around us. Especially if we share the same experiences. Experiences can either strengthen or dismantle even the closest of friends. Relationships with stories can also be just as important. As they can show us that, although each person has a different story to tell, we all live in the same society. In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” and George Saunder’s “Puppy”, the reader is given a glimpse into the lives of two people. Marie and Callie in “Puppy” and Twyla and Roberta in “Recitatif”. Both stories show similarities and differences between the two sets of characters in each story.

“This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” discusses the physical and mental journey of Victor, a Native American man in the state of Washington, as he goes to Phoenix, Arizona to claim his father’s remains and his savings account. While on this journey, Victor learns about himself, his father, and his Indian culture with the help of his estranged friend, Thomas Builds-the–Fire. The author, Sherman Alexie, plays on the stereotypes of Native Americans through the characters of Victor and Thomas. While Thomas is portrayed as the more traditional and “good” Native American, Victor comes across as the “bad” Native American. Through the use of this binary relationship, Alexie is able to illustrate the transformation of these characters as

In the story This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie readers follow the characters Victor and Thomas as they travel to claim the ashes of Victors deceased father. The trip will take them from their Native American reservation in Washington state to Arizona. This trip is long and with Thomas the Story Teller it’s even longer. Life on the reservation is hard due to all the poverty, alcoholism and other problems that modern Native Americans face. This trip is a way for the two boys to escape their problems. Victor had a hard time scrapping together money to make the trip and with the help of Thomas he finally gets all the money that he needs to travel to Arizona. The movie Smoke Signals directed by Chris Eyre is the short story interrupted into a movie. The movie is similar in many ways to the story but there are also many difference between the two. The similarities and differences were used to add detail to characters, story, plot and setting to creates a story that is rich in content for both the short story and movie.

“A Rose for Emily,” “A Worn Path,” and “The Lottery” by William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Shirley Jackson all have similar writing styles in their literature. In these three short stories the authors all use contrasting nature within their literature to predict the outcome and to learn for the upcoming events in the readings. The authors take subliminal phrases and subliminal symbolic text to have the reader become more attached and understand more of what the characters, setting and theme of the story has to offer. Using these three stories the reader of this essay will understand and grasp the symbolic meanings in text of each these short stories.

Sherman J. Alexie, is a short story written in the first person focusing on two Native American Men who grew up together on a Reservation for Native Americans but have been estranged from each other since they were teenagers. Victor who is the narrator of this story is a young man who lost faith in his culture and its traditions, while Thomas our second main character is a deeply rooted traditional storyteller. In the beginning of the story Victor, our Native American narrator learns the death of his father. Jobless and penniless, his only wish is to go to Phoenix, Arizona and bring back his father’s ashes and belongings to the reservation in Spokane. The death of Victor’s father leads him and Thomas to a journey filled with childhood

Mr. Tim Hernandez tells us the story of the importance of these men and women in these informative stories and is effective in doing so. He is effective because of his excellent use of pathos. He uses pathos throughout the entire novel. An example of his use of pathos comes from Tim Z Hernandez himself in the novel “It was clear she’d been waiting her whole life to speak of him, though at times it must have seemed easier to live out her days without ever thinking back at all.”(28). When Hernandez used this quote he really tugged at the reader's emotions.

Short stories have fully developed themes but appear significantly shorter and less elaborate than novels. A similar theme found in short stories “Winter Dreams” written by Scott F. Fitzgerald and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner included the social and environmental influences that encouraged and controlled the character’s life and decisions. In “Winter Dreams”, the main protagonist-- Dexter-- fell into a fixation over a young, whimsical blueblood, Judy Jones. His obsession led him to believe that Judy Jones reciprocated his feelings for her, leaving him bare and mortal-- despite prior beliefs. Following her father’s death, Miss Emily fell into a dark obscurity due to the pressure and compulsion of having to carry on the honorable family name. While using a unique point of view (first person peripheral), “A Rose for Emily” followed a mysterious and desirable woman named Miss Emily as her hometown tried to understand her peculiar ways and began to find her disgraceful. By comparing and contrasting these two literary pieces, a similar organization-- including the writers’ purpose and themes-- should become clear. By using literary devices-- such as point of view, dramatic irony, detail, and figurative language-- Scott F. Fitzgerald and William Faulkner conducted two short stories similar in aim and reasoning, probable for contrasting and comparing elements within the parallel writings.

“This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”: The Road to a New Beginning