In Indian Education and This is what It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Sherman Alexie’s main character Victor realizes that to survive in the modern, or white man’s world, it’s safer to hide who you are traditionally.
In Indian Education Victor deals with white
teachers trying to teach him respect the entire time he lives on the
reservation. When he successfully defends himself against the boy Frenchy, he
is taken to the Principals office, all the way chanting the mantra of the
Native American Brave “It’ a good day to die.”(172) Implying that Alexie believes that if Native
Americans try to defend themselves outright against the government they will
only be punished more harshly.
Later
when Victor is in the second grade Betty Towle, his missionary teacher
attempted to humiliate him by giving him a spelling test designed for kids in
junior high. When Victor succeeded she
made him eat it, telling him “You’ll learn respect.”(173) Showing that if you fight
them outright you will be punished. She
then sent a letter home with him to her parents saying that he needed to cut
off his braids or he couldn’t come to class.
The next day his parents came to talk to her, but essentially he said
they were just showing their braids back to her, dragging them across the desk,
to which the teacher scoffs “Indians ,indians, indians,” lower case, implying
that are not even worthy of capitalization. His parents wear their tradition on
their sleeve they are discriminated against.
When
Victor is in seventh grade kisses a white girl through her basement
window. He says he “felt the good-byes I
was saying to my entire tribe,” implying that he knew when he entered into the relationship
with white society he knew he would no longer be able to wear his tradition
outwardly.
In This is What it Means to Say Phoenix,
Arizona Victor’s relationship with Thomas Builds-The-Fire is a
representation of Victor’s relationship with his own tradition. Victor starts off being friends with Thomas,
even sharing a bike with him when they were 10, even calling him cousin, but as
the story progresses their relationship turns sour, they even get into a fist
fight. While Thomas does end up helping
Victor retrieve his father’s remains Victor admits that at the end of the
journey he can’t be friends with Thomas. “Victor knew that he couldn’t really
be friends with Thomas, even after all had happened,”(74) symbolizing Victor
being too afraid to let his tradition show.
