This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix Arizona Character Analysis

Thomas goes on to change his way of dressing, and even his hairstyle. The old Thomas wore his hair in two braids, and sported suits everyday. The new Thomas wears his hair unraveled so that is it appears to be long and flowing, like the typical “native american”. When they arrive back on the bus the two are bullied by two caucasian men who steal their seats. The two try and get back at the men by singing a song they casually made up in Native American style. When Thomas and Victor finally arrive in Arizona at Arnold’s trailer, they are greeted by his girlfriend. Once inside the home she presents them with Arnold’ s ashes. Victor becomes emotional and is ready to head back to the reservation. As he goes through his father’s belongings, something comes over Victor and he retaliates by cutting his hair. Victor and Thomas portray to be “American” in a sense. The two play sports, have typical family problems, and reference pop culture. However they also portray two indian stereotypes; the warrior and the shaman. Victor represents the warrior, and Thomas the shaman. Victor’s short temper and

Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories do not wants to hear. Thomas bring a very interesting flavor to the story. He tells many stories to the people, but most people ignore him, because most of his stories are made up. He sees Victor as a brother. Each time something happen between Thomas and Victor like a fight or an argument, Thomas would go back to him and talk to

What appears to be a burden to Victor having to seek help from Thomas, in reality symbolizes the relationship between these two men within the context of their Native American heritage and history. Within the frequent flashbacks the reader learns , about the childhood relationship between the two men. We learn that Thomas Builds-the Fire the storyteller that no one wanted to listen to, something of an embarrassment to his fellow Native Americans, including Victor. However the twist is in that Victor arises respect towards Thomas at the end of the story and that is the great symbolic representation, the Phoenix raised from the fire. The first sign that is depicted in Victors change is when in a moment of flash back victor says, ““Everybody has dreams of flying. Thomas

Victor thought that Thomas might be able to help him because “Victor felt a sudden need for tradition” (78). This quote means that after Victor’s fathers died he wanted to feel like he belongs to the tribal community and traditions. Thomas offers to lend Victor the money on the condition that he accompany Victor to Phoenix, Arizona.

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.

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

In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Thomas Builds-the-Fire offers to lend Victor the money but he had one condition, and it was that he would tag along with Victor for his trip to Phoenix. Victor really does not really want to go because he knows that

In the movie Smoke Signals, there are two main characters which are Victor, Thomas and. Victor’s father. and Thomas are both young teenagers going through high school. Thomas is more on the odd side of things, for example, the way he speaks, dresses and communicates with other people. Victor looks like your regular teenager. Victor is tall with long black hair and has a bit of an attitude. Victor’s father is a tall middle-aged man. He plays a fatherly figure in both Victors and Thomas lives. Both Victor and Thomas fit well into the movie. The roles they play in the movie are powerful as well as supportive. Throughout the movie, they support each other along the journey.

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

What part of a story makes the reader interested in that specific piece of literature? It could be many things such as, the plot, the characters, the themes, etc... In This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, the story shows no lack and every part of it is of a unique interest to the reader. For some stories, one wishes they could write about every aspect they discovered as they were reading. In this story, Thomas tells stories to give people in the reservation hope.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

There is no clear definition that describes what hipness is, but it involves a group of people that are drawn to oppose the mainstream culture, copy the African-American style, and incorporate it into theirs. Hipster culture is often promoted by literature, films, places, clothing, and music. They are individuals characterized by ‘love for outsiders, language that means more than it says, and grimy sense of nobility’ (Leland 10). Having written on various topics throughout the semester, it would be imperative to evaluate the hip culture that Tulsa promotes. More specifically, this analysis will be focused on the coffee shop, The Phoenix. Although Tulsa has many creative features such as studio space, art galleries, legendary music venues like Cain’s Ballroom, and nightclubs, The Phoenix is one of the staple spots that depict the hipness of this place.

The city I am going to be choosing for this assignment is Phoenix, Arizona. I chose this city, because I am more familiar with phoenix, having living here for over ten years. Phoenix is the capital of Arizona, which is located in the southwestern of the United States. The city was settled in 1867 and incorporated as a city in 1881. According to the City of Phoenix website, Phoenix is “one of the fastest growing city in the nation with over one million residents, making it the fifth most populous city in the country” (2017). The city of Phoenix is well known for its extremely hot and long summers. A study conducted by the University of California Berkeley, ranks metropolitan regions by their overall resilience capacity. The institute of

“Young Goodman brown”, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “Happy endings” are three interesting short stories with different approaches to narration.

In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” we follow Victor and Thomas along to their journey of change and revelation. Shortly after being laid off his job, Victor gets the fatal news that his father, has died. Since Victor had been abandoned by his father at a young age his character is negative, frustrated, angry, and confused. Having found out both things within the same week made his outlook on life very pessimistic. Thomas, on the other hand, is the storyteller on the reservation that nobody wants to listen to. He is lonely, positive, but has lived a sad life. After their journey together, Victor finds out more about his dad's lifestyle and personality and builds a bond with Thomas that would have never happened without the journey to Arizona. He goes from being confused and angry, to happy and at peace with himself and his father. Thomas also experiences the same emotions by the end of the journey. While they “technically” are not friends towards the end of the story, they will be forever bonded by this journey and he helped his friendship with Victor get a little deeper. Thanks to Thomas, Victor changes his perception of his dad and while doing so, helped himself get close to someone from back at home. Author Sherman Alexie uses the journey to Arizona to reveal and demonstrate change and the protagonist’s lifestyle. While Victor lives a torn and confused life because of his father’s absence, his outlook on his father changes