What Is Means To Say Phoenix Arizona Analysis

When they returned back to the reservation, Victor knew that he still could not be seen talking to Thomas for fear of being ridiculed for talking to the crazy storyteller. “Victor knew that he couldn’t really be friends with Thomas, even after all that had happened. It was cruel but it was real.” (Alexie P. 518) Victor in a way was thankful for Thomas’ help but seemed too proud to admit it to Thomas. Victor knows that Thomas would remain the crazy storyteller. In a way Victor felt ashamed of himself.

In Sherman Alexie's “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” a man named Victor finds out that his father has passed away. Being next of kin, Victor is responsible for gathering his father's assets together, which requires him to make an out of town trip. In order to accomplish this Victor needs help. This help comes from the town outcast, Thomas Builds-the Fire. Victor and Thomas were childhood best friends but as they grew older, Victor turned his back on the one that always looked out for him. A trip to gather his father's remains turns into a journey of reviewing his life and choices.

First, an understanding of how fire works is needed. When a fire burns, it devours everything in its path leaving the land bare. Later though, after the fire is gone, new growth springs forth that builds on the ashes and becomes stronger than before. The symbolism of fire is seen when Thomas’ parent’s house burns down and also when Arnold's trailer is consumed by the flame of Suzy’s fire. When the house burns and Arnold leaves, this represents a fire in its first stage of devouring everything in its path. Relationships crumble and they are left bare in soul. Regrowth happens as Victor sprang forth is able to receive his father and begins the process of forgiveness. Consequently, fire represents the themes of destruction and

This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when

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

On the other hand, Thomas Builds-The-Fire symbolizes an embrace of the present and future, as demonstrated by Alexie’s use of oral traditions, costumes, and allegories. For instance, Thomas represents the future through his uplifting storytelling. Thomas, similarly to Victor, experienced trauma in his childhood, but it is made obvious that the two are practically opposites. To cope with the past, Thomas uses oral

Our society is a melange of different cultures. Each culture contributes to cultural diversity without losing its separate identity. Living in this society, we identify ourselves as a member of one group with the same culture or more than one group, and we have the desire to be accepted by other members and enjoy whatever benefits membership brings with it. Manuel Munoz, the author of “Leave Your Name at the Border”, recounted an experience about hearing his last name mispronounced and explored the Anglicization of Latina names in American culture. In “My Summer at an Indian Call Center”, Andrew Marantz narrated his experiences about working at a call center in Delhi and the insight he received from others about his own culture. Does Mexican Americans’ identity have to be lost in the process of assimilation? Do the customer service representatives in Delhi have to erase any trace of their Indian identity? When we join, or are assimilated into a group, we are changed regardless of retaining an original cultural identity or being part of the dominant culture. The level of change we are able to achieve is based on our willingness to compromise between blending in and standing out.

The character Thomas from “ This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona.” is keeping his word by watching over Victor when he most needs it. Thomas is a guy no one really likes and talk to because he is always telling random stories, people see him as a crazy person. In reality Thomas is very humble, because after Victor beating him up for no reason one day, Thomas still decided to help Victor when he was most in need of it.

Stereotypes are shown in the story through the binary depictions of Victor and Thomas Builds-the-Fire. The most important binary that is emphasized by Alexie is the stereotypes that Victor is “bad,”while Thomas is good. Victor is portrayed as the negative views of Indians. “Victor was really drunk and beat up Thomas up for no reason at all” (Alexie). In this situation, Victor is shown as the typical drunk Native American. Other stereotypes that are presented by Victor are that Indians are lazy when he fails to be persistent to try to get more money to get to Phoenix. When Victor beats up Thomas as a teenager, this depicts Victor as the bloody savage. Thomas Builds-the-fire, on the other hand, is portrayed as the more positive view of Native Americans. The romantic portrayals of Native Americans include the idea that they are noble savages. Indians are characterized as gentle and connected to the world. For example, instead of being captured as a bloody savage as Victor, Thomas is seen as the noble savage as he appears to be more connected with the environment and nature. Being connected with the nature and the world shows that Thomas-Builds-the-Fire is is not a selfish person. Also, instead of being viewed as lazy, Thomas Builds-the-Fire appears as diligent. This is because Thomas continued to

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

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

The central idea of this artical is that people are concered that what they say to alexa is not very private and people can see what you say. First, a man was killed and they had to use alexa to find who was the killer. The artical says that, "In the Arkansas case, authorities are investigating the death of a man found in a hot tub at a friend's home. They requested the home's Echo and Amazon's stored recordings in hopes they might contain evidence. The friend is charged with murder." Next, all the question you have goes to sombody that it working for amazon. The auothor wrote, "Once it hears someone say a keyword, such as "Alexa," it shares what it hears with Amazon's servers to process a response."

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

The constellation I have chosen for this assignment is the minor constellation, Phoenix. This constellation is known for its location in the southern sky and, along with Grus, Pavo, and Tucana, it is a Southern Bird (named for its location as seen from Earth). It is named after the phoenix, a powerful creature with many magical abilities, and that is what drew me to using it for this assignment.

India is a country often described as being the most unforgettable place you can visit. It attracts those who seek to experience spiritual awakening, those who crave inspiration and wish to engulf themselves in rich culture, and sometimes merely those who have a passionate desire to learn. Having lived in the USA as a Mexican-American for more than 10 years already, I know much about living a life that balances out different beliefs and traditions, as well as profoundly appreciating that which is multicultural. I hope to not just speak about the specifics of the country in my paper, but rather to also facilitate in helping understand the people within it. I will attempt to describe certain cultural components that make up the country