Thomas Builds To Say Phoenix Arizona Essay

That seemed to be the only time that Victor was nice enough to Thomas. Victor was a hypocrite when it came to his roots. He was disappointed in the Tribal Council because they wouldn’t give him more than one hundred dollars. Then he turns around and treats Thomas the same way. The flashbacks were useful when Victor discussed his father.

Thomas is the narrator and protagonist of the story. He arrives in the maze with no knowledge of who he is or was. He only remembers his name and nothing else about his life. Thomas proves to be brave and clever even though he only has a very limited memory of previous knowledge of the Maze. Since arriving in the maze, Thomas makes both friends and enemies and proves to be a leader among the other boys with him in the maze.

Thomas seems to have a gift in his storytelling, they may seem like crazy stories he tells over and over but his stories may carry some kind of meaning. “We are all given one thing by which our lives are measured, one determination. Mine are the stories which can change or not change the world.” (Alexie P. 518) His stories about Victor’s father are why he went out of his way to help Victor. It took Victor a trip to Phoenix to see that Thomas was there for a reason, to help him because they were cousins.

This time may help the character realize either the wrong in their ways or someone who they’ve had conflict with. This may help them learn the true meaning of forgiveness, and letting go of the past, and moving forward. (...” Do we forgive our fathers in our age, or in theirs? Or in their deaths, saying it to them or not saying it. If we forgive our fathers, what is left?”). Victor begins to realize that despite the ups and downs that he and his father had in the past, that his father really did love him. He learns that when his father left, he always intended to return. He didn’t mean to die when he was away. He wanted to see Victor again. This is when Victor really begins to learn forgiveness and to let go of the past.

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.

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.

Even though she said so many good things about his father and about things he was afraid of, Victor did not want to show any compassion for his father. It is like the story on Real Boys, Inside the World of Boys: Behind the Mask of Masculinity. Victor was hiding behind this mask so he would not show his emotions. However, after the accident, he began to think about his father. He understood that no one could be perfect and he finally saw that he really loved his father.

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

In the short story This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona written by Alexie Sherman. Alexie wrote about these two Native Americans that live on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Victor had a tough childhood when his father left him around the age of seven and moved to Phoenix Arizona. Thomas’s parents died when he was just a baby and grew up with his grandmother, Thomas was a storyteller and got picked on a lot because of his story telling. Victor lost his job and he also found out that he lost his father due to a heart attack, Victor was told that his father had a savings account and if he wanted anything to go to Phoenix to go gather up his father’s belongings.

As Victors brother was killed by the creature he created, the remourse victor and his father have towards his death show weakness. Men in society are conditioned to be brought up as brave and protective. While Victors father is letting the death of

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

Thomas, voluntarily saves one of the Glader's who was injured coming back from the maze. Consequently, in the time he saved him, he fails at getting him back home.

His relationship with his father influenced his behaviors later in the novel when Victor is given the chance to guide someone else in a foreign world, he choose to let them have a ‘child’s blindness’ since he only knows how to guide himself.

The monsters extreme hatred of Victor for abandoning him, fuels his actions in killing William. The action displays the Monsters need for a parental connection. With a connection to Victor, the Monster's hatred would not have influenced his actions in killing William, since there would be no hatred. The necessity for a parental connection for the monster is paramount in the avoidance of unlawful acts.

In life, everyone experiences a time of hardship, and for the most part, those affected find methods of overcoming the adversity. The idea of getting through hardship is best reflected in; Sherman J. Alexie’s story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (274). In the story, victor whose father had recently died from a heart attack has to travel to phoenix Arizona to reclaim his father’s ashes and his truck. Victor is joined by his former childhood friend “Thomas Builds-the-fire”, who finances the trip to phoenix since Victor did not have the means. They drove back truck from phoenix to the reservation. Throughout the trip, Thomas is always telling stories mostly