In the introduction of “The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight In Heaven” Sherman Alexie explains that the stories in this book are
somewhat based on truth and personal experiences, but that over all
they are “are necessarily biased, incomplete,
exaggerated, deluded, and often just plain wrong”(xxi). Alexie describes his
writing style of how he describes these stories as “what might be called
reservation realism” (xxi). So what does he mean by reservation realism? Well I
know that realism can be defined as the tendency to view or represent
things as they really are. I feel that when Alexie used the term
“reservation realism”, that he means that he is describing the truths about life on the Reservation as he sees it. Just
because all of these experiences didn’t happen to him exactly the way he
described them in the book, doesn’t mean that these stories don’t represent
something truthful about Indian culture on a reservation. I think that
reservation realism is just Alexie’s way of depicting reservation life.
In the chapter “Indian Education”, Alexie
describes some experiences from his school years at a school that was not run
by the reservation. This short story has some accurate comparisons
to the reservation boarding schools during the mid-1900’s. In the
introduction Alexie confesses that this chapter “is a true (and truer) account
of [his] public school days” (xx). This supports his “reservation realism”
claim because Alexie takes facts about his life on the reservation, and creates
these slightly altered, but still realistic interpretations. After
looking up reservation boarding schools in the 1900’s, I found many
similarities between the second and third grade years in the “Indian Education”
chapter of the novel and to how Indians were really treated in these boarding
schools. According to an article “American
Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many” by Charla Bear, the government used these
boarding schools as “a possible solution to the so-called Indian problem. For
the tens of thousands of Indians who went to boarding schools, it's largely
remembered as a time of abuse and desecration of culture”. In
Alexie’s depiction of second and third grade he talks about how his missionary
teacher discriminated against him because he was an indian. The teacher
punishes him in a variety of cruel ways and threatens his parents to cut off
his braids. She even goes as far as to make him eat his spelling test because
he aced a test meant for older students, “’You’ll learn respect,’ She said”
(173). Now did these particular experiences
happen to our author? Well who knows, but he included them in the story for a
reason. Alexie is using reservation realism to impact the reader about the
discrimination and poor treatment of Indians during this time.
I think it is important to remember
Alexie’s culture. Native American culture, as we have seen throughout this
novel, is very focused around the art of storytelling. Sherman Alexie is a
story teller. Native American stories are served to entertain, to warn, or to
prepare members of the reservation about all aspects of life. I think that
Alexie felt that he had some stories to tell about his culture. I feel that the
Alexie only modifies the stories to help strength the main lesson and impact
the reader on a deeper level. I think that distorting the stories is part of
the Indian culture to begin with. I think that Alexie exaggerates his stories
and changes them greatly in some cases in order to guarantee that the readers
experience the emotions of what it was like to grow up on a reservation. When
something happens to you it is hard to retell the story of your firsthand
experience to someone else and have them achieve the same feeling that you
initially felt. So, I think that Alexie purposefully amped up his stories in
order for his audience to have a better grasp of the things that he has felt
while growing up on a reservation. It’s safe to say the reality of growing up and living as an Indian
influenced Alexie’s writing. Maybe it’s also safe to say that his imagination,
memories, and realities mix together to write and create a new kind of
“reservation realism” that is part truth, myth, memory, storytelling, and
fiction.
Bear, Charla. “American Indian
Boarding Schools Haunt Many” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865
(718 words)
Michelle- Great job! I really enjoyed your post. I think that you are very through and you did a fantastic job. I think that your comment, “I feel that when Alexie used the term “reservation realism”, that he means that he is describing the truths about life on the Reservation,” is very profound and it stirs thought. I think that Alexie sees the reservations in a unique way. The way that I see a reservation is different than how you might see it. I appreciated Alexie’s reservation realism because I was able see how my view was biased. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Brianna about how we think that "Alexie sees the reservations in a unique way". I do not think that we can all completely understand the way he sees "reservation realism", because we do not have his experiences first hand. He writes his stories from memories, and even though they may be a little stretched and exaggerated, they still come from the bases of his memories. His memories are his "reservation realism". The only thing that most of us can compare the "Native American reservation life" to is movies and books. But Alexie was able to compare these stories to real life situations and memories. I think that "reservation realism" is how a true indian sees a reservation compared to what the rest of us think it is like. I really hope that makes sense! What do you guys think about his memories compared to what we think we now about native americans and reservation life?
ReplyDeleteBrandi- That is exactly what I was trying to say! I think that we all have some sort of "reservation realism" but not, that can be related to our lives. I see my childhood differently than you do. I can base it on my memories just like Alexie.
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I think you’re right about Alexie’s “Reservation Realism.” It’s merely the concept of accepting the situations with respect to Alexie’s personal view or the view from the Reservation. It actually makes me wonder how true all his stories really are. I don’t mean to imply that they a false or bad representations of the truth. More that they may be truer because of his personal perception. He gives an account of events with a higher sense of purpose and meaning. I believe this to be a higher sense of realism, something like hyper-realism. I know this a poor example, but imagine a story about the Holocaust. What is more real? A story from a textbook or told by a historian, or a story told by a Holocaust survivor. By reading the survivor’s story, you gain a higher sense of what happened, and thus truth that beyond the truth. I know this makes no sense at all, but I’ll say it anyway. Sorry it’s so random.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, Michelle. I agree with Erik in his Holocaust example about a story told by a survivor versus a textbook or historian has a much greater impact on the reader and allows them to gain a higher sense of what happened. So it is interesting to look at Alexie's story in comparison. Does Alexie actually take away from the impact of his story on his audience by adding too much imagination and myth to the truth? I believe that readers will respond to real injustice and there seems to be plenty of it on the reservation. It would be intriguing to see Alexie's book as a gritty elaboration on truth rather than diluted with so much fanciful imagination. However, if he only revealed the truth in his book, would he still be staying true to his culture and passing down life lessons through storytelling? I believe that all of this also may depend on his target audience and ultimate goal of his stories. Do you think that his version of reservation realism is best for fellow indians or rather a white population who don't understand their culture? And is Alexie's goal through his stories to educate on the mistreatment of his people, or is it to entertain and bring his culture and modern day together in storytelling?
ReplyDeleteGreat post Michelle and thanks for starting a good discussion. Erik, you're example was far from random, it's a perfect example. Like Marilyn said an experience told from a Holocaust survivor has a greater more truthful impact on the audience than a textbook or historian. This is probably why Native Americans preferred to tell stories about the truth, along with some exaggeration to add on to the imagination, instead of reading history from books (or a majority might not even know how to read). Stories are also more personal truth, mixed with imagination as Michelle mentioned. And to answer you last question Marilyn, I think Alexie's main goal is to show the mistreatment of Native Americans. But why not show some positive feedback, tell some of the stories of the successful Native Americans (their modern warrior) that didn't fall into the same fate as the majority of them. Surely, from his experience, not EVERYONE was a failure.
ReplyDeleteWow great posts everybody. Michelle, I loved what you said about why Alexie might have beefed up his stories.
ReplyDeleteTo add to the conversation of truth vs. elaboration, etc, I'll say this. My eighth grade English teacher once told me that all fiction is really about the truth. She also said that, a lot of times, fictions are autobiographical.
So to reiterate your question, why doesn't he tell a couple success stories? Well, to answer, I would point out that Sherman Alexie is himself a success story. We are studying them, after all. Maybe part of the "reservation realism" or "truth" is that even the successes are badly scarred by the experience of growing up on the reservations. Maybe he doesn't tell us other success stories because we'd just say "well, it's not EVERYONE" and brush off the rest of the experience.
What do y'all think: would putting a couple success stories in take away from Alexie's message of "reservation realism?" Is the experience of the majority more valuable than the few? Would we belittle the bad things if we were told some of the good?
You did a great job deccribing Alexie's use of "Reservation Realism." I agree with your assetion that "Alexie is using reservation realism to impact the reader about the discrimination and poor treatment of Indians during this time." While these stories may have not happened to him particularly; this type of oppresion towards the Inidans still ocurred. I believe Alexie includes the "Inidan Education" story to portray how the Inidans were treated and to get a certain reaction out of the reader. While there may have been some mistreatment, do you believe teachers actually went as far as making the Indian students eat paper because they outsmarted the teacher?
ReplyDeleteI think in some extreme cases yes. Some of the articles I read about Indian boarding schools in the 1900s were horrifying. Some of the schools were designed to get Indian children to stop practicing their traditions and culture. They had to change their Indian name and cut their braids in some cases. I do wonder what all from "Indian education" is true. Alexie said it is one of his most true chapters from the book. I wonder if his teacher really made him eat his test!
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