Ambushed Tradition

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

were nearing extinction. Eventually, for survival, the tribe agreed to sell their land to the whites. The Indians were forced to live on reservations.
Indians, in the United States of America today, are in a constant battle with the duality of their lives. This duality is a struggle between their traditional culture and the modern day society that surrounds them. In the collection of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sherman Alexie expresses the dual sides of reservation life, where the Indians' desire to succeed is often ambushed by fear. This fear, one that is universal, is the fear of the unknown.
Trapped in the viscous cycle of poverty on the Spokane Indian Reservation there is a focus on storytelling, basketball, education (or lack there of) and turbulent relationships. Alexie utilizes everyday life on the reservation to express the duality of the Traditional Indian compared with the Modern Indian.
Alexie personifies parts of himself in several ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

even between very distant relatives. This elder also had the job of keeping track of the "properties and privileges" of the tribe through family lineage. (Drucker 68)
In the modern world, storytellers are not required. Records are kept on computers and in files. No one needs to memorize the entire tribe's history anymore. People read books containing a story of their choice for entertainment. Not to mention watching television and movies where you not only hear a story you experience it. Perhaps these are some of the reasons that people do not want to be bothered with Thomas.
An orphan from the time of his birth, Thomas explains "I have no brothers or sisters. I have ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: