In Sherman Alexie’s “The Long
Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven”, the game of basketball is viewed
profoundly. As opposed to simply being
called players, the basketball players are referred to as “heroes”, revealing
basketball’s significance to the Indians on the reservation.
In "The Only Traffic Signal on
the Reservation", Julius Windmaker “the best basketball player on the
reservation” is compared to a medicine man (45). The comparison tells us that
the basketball heroes bring healing to the troublesome life that is lived on
the reservation. The majority of the Indians on the reservation experience
poverty, alcoholism, and oppression by “White America”; therefore, they take
refuge in the game of basketball. Basketball players are dignified considering
they represent: achievement, greatness, importance, sobriety, etc. Just a year
later Julius becomes an alcoholic and the fans no longer see him as the same “hero”
he was the previous year. However Victor proclaims, “a reservation hero is a
hero forever and “their status grows over the years as the stories are told and
retold” (48). Even after a hero falls
short, he is still well respected and considered a hero. Victor tells Adrian “Indians
need heroes to help them survive” (49). The Indians rely on these “heroes” to endure
their everyday struggles.
Also, basketball is viewed as both
spiritual and religious. Religion isn’t highly valued amongst the citizens on
the reservation. Basketball players are
like moral guides who uphold righteous standards and are looked upon as
leaders. When speaking to Adrian, Victor reflects “It hurts to lose any of them
because Indians kind of see ballplayers as saviors. I mean, if basketball would have been around,
I’m sure Jesus Christ would’ve been the best point guard in Nazareth.
(52)" Jesus is compared to the basketball “heroes” on the reservation, who
are worshipped amongst the Indians, furthermore proving that basketball is of
religious significance to the Indians. Not only that, In "Jesus Christ's
Half-Brother Is Alive and Well On the Spokane Reservation," the narrator
plays basketball outside and directly states “this is my religion”(114). The common
theme of emptiness amongst the stories is filled with the notion of basketball.
Basketball brings people together, provides entertainment, encouragement, and
wishful thinking. This in turn helps feed the souls of the “starving” Indians
on the reservation who have nothing to guide them.
On the reservation basketball is an
outlet; a way to prove yourself. In “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in
Heaven” the narrator (“one of [the Indians] old and dusty heroes) tries to
prove that he’s better than the BIA chief’s kid and challenges him to a game of
one-on-one.(189) He states “this BIA kid needed to be beat by an Indian, any Indian”(189).
A BIA kid losing a game to an Indian would be a tremendous victory for the
Indians on the reservation, showing superiority over their oppressors. Nonetheless, to the Indians basketball is not
a game; it’s a religion, spiritual experience, outlet, pain suppressant, past
time, and guide that is of great significance.
Great post Jarrett! I never made that connection to where the indians actually consider the basketball players as true heros and "saviors". I knew that they were somewhat jealous of the basketball stars, but I never considered them almost worshipping the sport. I agree with you 100% about the sport being their "outlet" and "a way to prove yourself". Although I did not read it as them considering the players a saviors or that the worshipped the stars. When I read,"I’m sure Jesus Christ would’ve been the best point guard in Nazareth", I did not think that it meant that they considered the basketball stars as someone they worshipped. I saw it more as, the love the sport and they love Jesus, so they imagine that Jesus would have been the best basketball star in history. Do you think that they consider the basketball stars on the reservation at religious figures and worship them? Or do you think that they are just jealous of the "achievement, greatness, importance, and sobriety" within each player? This is something to really consider because it can really be read in both ways. Not only do they wish they had the lives of the basketball stars, but they consider them legit heros to the point where they worship them!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post, Jarrett! I hadn't connected that they pretty much treat basketball as their religion. The way I viewed how they regard basketball is like hope. I think that they saw basketball as one of the only ways to break free from the reservation and be successful. In a lot of ways, religion is equivalent to hope. As such, the people on the reservation believe in basketball because it is the hope for their salvation. Essentially, if they make it big with a basketball career they've achieved success and all of their dreams will come true in their eyes. Alexie reveals in the story "The Only Traffic Sign" (43) that even the people on the reservation that didn't make it still want the younger star players to be successful. Do you think that this is because if one person makes it off the reservation and is successful that this would give more tangible hope to everyone else and inspire more young people to also achieve their dream?
ReplyDeleteBrabdi, I don't believe there was any jealously associated with the basketball players. I think they're guides, hopeful beings that bring healing to the Inidans.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, I agree the Inidans do view the basketball players as hope for themselves and for the entire reservation. I think basketball becoming successful and making it off the reservation most definitely inspires the Inidans back on the reservation and gives them hope.
The passages you chose to support your thesis were just superb. I’m very religious myself so I understand how they feel about basketball. Religion is basically the connection between the material and the spiritual aspect of life. Connecting spiritually to basketball is just as Marilyn says: it is hope. It is the belief that they can overcome despair. You have shown every well how almost everyone on the reservation reveres basketball and its heroes. So I have to ask, if basketball really is a religion and gives them a feeling of glory and emotional escape, what do you think of those who are unable to play basketball anymore? Are they cast out of this religious experience or forsaken maybe? Even Alexie talks about how missing a shot still haunts him.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of basketball to the Indians is a religious exoerience as a whole, whether actually playing or being a fanatic of the game. Both the playing and obession with basketball is the religious exoerience within itself being that, the non-basketball players still get a sense of aspiration through telling stories of the basketball "heroes".
DeleteI definitely feel that the Indians on the reservation see basketball as a religion. In "Jesus Christ's Half-Brother Is Alive and Well On the Spokane Reservation" the narrator gives an account of his spiritual love for basketball and says, "This is my religion" as Jarrett stated. I also find it interesting that this character uses basketball as an escape from the reality of his life, "I play and I play until the music of my shoes against pavement sounds like every drum. Then I'm home alone and I watch the cockroaches live their complicated lives"(115). In my mind basketball for him is an escape, a meditation, a drum circle even, or a prayer. When he calls the lives of the cockroaches "complicated" it seems like he is saying that for that brief moment basketball made his life seem a little more simple and relaxed.
ReplyDeleteBrandi- I don't know if I would go as far to say that they worshiped the basketball stars in present day, but I for sure think that they are put on an extreme pedestal. They are the ideal role model for many of the basketball hopefuls on the reservation. What I think may be true though, is that as the years progress and generations pass, earlier stories about basketball stars get morphed into something more. What I mean by that is a story about a basketball star may get translated over the years to where the star ends up seeming more "God like". Do you get what I mean? Like in the future the legends of these ball stars will seem more Godly and maybe then their spirits will be worshiped. Just a thought.
I really liked the fact that you pointed out that the book compares basketball players to medicine men. (45) i never really thought about why they made that comparison until you started talking about it, and i agree completely. The basketball players on the reservation stood for the opposite of everything that was bringing the communty down. They hwere the common people glimmer of hope, "look how great we could be".
ReplyDelete