This is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf. This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona blog.sigma-systems.com 2023-01-06

This is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf Rating: 6,3/10 1307 reviews

"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is a short story written by Sherman Alexie that was published in his collection "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." The story follows the journey of two Native American men, Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, as they travel from the Spokane Indian Reservation to Phoenix, Arizona to retrieve the remains of Victor's recently deceased father. Along the way, the two men confront their own personal struggles and come to understand the true meaning of friendship and family.

The story is set on the Spokane Indian Reservation, a place that is often depicted as being impoverished and disconnected from mainstream society. Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, like many of the other characters in the story, struggle with issues of poverty, addiction, and a lack of opportunities. Despite these challenges, the two men are able to form a strong bond and support each other as they journey to Phoenix.

As they travel, Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire confront their own personal demons and come to understand the importance of forgiveness and acceptance. For Victor, this means coming to terms with the fact that his father, who he had always viewed as being distant and uncaring, had actually been trying to protect him from the dangers of the reservation. For Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, it means overcoming his addiction to alcohol and finding a way to move forward with his life.

The story ultimately suggests that, despite the challenges that we face in life, it is possible to find meaning and purpose through the support of others. In the case of Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, their journey to Phoenix becomes a journey of self-discovery and healing, as they come to understand the true meaning of friendship and family.

In conclusion, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is a poignant and moving story about the power of friendship and the importance of forgiveness. Through the journey of Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, the story illustrates the transformative power of supportive relationships and the importance of finding meaning and purpose in life.

This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona blog.sigma-systems.com

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

Vincent's rebirth is symbolized at the end by a new willingness to listen to the stories Thomas has to tell. Victor needs to travel to Phoenix in order to collect the ashes and savings of his recently deceased father, for which he requires financial support. Victor hadn't seen his father in a few years, only talked to him on the telephone once or twice, but there still was a genetic pain, which was soon to be pain as real and immediate as a broken bone. At the same time there are also humorous parts, including names of the characters like Norma Many Horses. You get the picture. It was very poetic in its' storytelling, conveying a theme of Indian Heritage and Reserve Community. They live — and have been living since birth — at the reservation, and consider this as their normal state of existence.

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This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Analysis

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

His father had a savings account waiting to be claimed, but Victor needed to find a way to get to Phoenix. When Thomas speaks at ease with an American woman, he feels Thomas is being outrageous. However, this story revived my passion towards reading more and more American literature. It is explained that what Thomas Builds-the-Fire does is tell the stories while people are getting tired to listen to them or not listen at all. The story has many stylistic devices, like zeugma linking different things together, metaphor for flames, ashes, etc.

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This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

Thomas, who Victor looks down on as an outcast, is in touch with old tribal ways and believes it is his role in life to be a storyteller. I need some money to get to Phoenix to make arrangements. That, in itself is very unfortunate. What purpose do these flashbacks serve? Do the flashbacks to the two men's childhood add something vital to the story? One of such issues is the amount of coverage that the Indians get by the media. Character Thomas Builds-the Fire is a storyteller. The struggle to balance modern day living and the Native American culture in Seattle is revealed through the setting. The main conflict described is the difference in life views and behavioral attitudes.

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This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. With the use of clever identically constructed sentences to contrast his academic ascendency with the decline of those around him, powerful segment conclusions to create a spatial effect between different periods of his life in relation to environment and discrimination, and a thematic transition to display how discrimination became imprinted in his mind through consecutive years of mistreatment, Alexei portrays the bitterness associated with the loss of a society. In this way, Thomas provides Victor with not only financial but emotional support. There are two different dimensions of story-telling, therefore, story within the story occurs frame narrative. That's like being a dentist in a town where everybody has false teeth. His father dies from a heart attack and he has to find money to travel all the way to Phoenix, Arizona.

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This is what it means to Say Phoenix, Arizona essay Essay — Free college essays

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

However, Alexie implies that it is Victor who will rise from the ashes, a young man who will be reborn, like the phoenix, from the flames of his own suffering and pain—flames kindled by his journey with Thomas Builds-the-Fire. When these two pieces of literature are compared to each other, it is clear that Jackson Jackson fills in the blanks of Montana 1948 with redemption for the Native Americans that reveals their true character and proves the wrongness of bigotry. By telling Victor stories throughout their journey to Phoenix and back, Thomas offers Victor a form of healing and the ability to accept both the good and the bad aspects of his absentee father. Or is there somebody who could lend you the rest of the money? The theme of family and loyalty is portrayed in a complicated manner, however becomes ultimately evident in between the falling action and conclusion. He was successful through every aspects of life and married a white woman.

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What does the title "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" mean?

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

While their physical journey—from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State down to Arizona and back—is told by means of a chronological narrative, their spiritual journey unfolds as a series of flashbacks. Luckily, Thomas saves Victor from being stung to death by wasps. With this realization, Victor takes back the wheel and drives home, for now he, unlike the jackrabbit and his father, is more consciously in charge of his own path. He knows that Thomas can help him with the money, but he strongly declines any help from him. Interestingly, through this statement he shows signs of internalized racism: he unconsciously degrades his origins, and admits his inferiority. She is a friendly woman who spends the flight speaking with Victor and Thomas. To men, who used to be friends until social expectations drove one of them away, get on a plane to Phonix collect said man's dead fathers' bank account.

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Copy of SEMINAR_ “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”.pdf

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

They stole a car and parked it outside the police station in a quest for recognition. In Native American culture, the storyteller holds an important position, telling tales that transmit and preserve the tribe's basic beliefs. He discusses the journey his ancestors took as he himself travels in their footsteps a century later across North America, from Montana to Arkansas, where the Kiowa lived for many decades. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Besides, I was going to drive my father's pickup back up here. Once, when they were seven years old, when Victor's father still lived with the family, Thomas closed his eyes and told Victor this story: "Your father's heart is weak.


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this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

However, Thomas uses humor to avoid truthfully answering the question and says that he is the son of a magician and a clown. Ever since Victor could remember, it was Thomas who always had something to say. In the last flashback, Thomas is all alone, an orphan and a storyteller to whom no one on the reservation listens anymore. Most people move to a new area and have to deal with finding new friends and finding their way around town, but Jackson has bigger problem. Do you think the story should have included more of Thomas's stories? It was very poetic in its' storytelling, conveying a theme of Indian Heritage and Reserve Community. Thomas speaks of dreams, of the warrior past of their people, and he envisions Vincent's father leaping like a salmon to a better place and finding a heavenly home.

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Omniscient Point of View in “This Is What It Means to Say...

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. How do they help to establish his character? While the trip to Phoenix initially implies dramatic circumstances, another meaning brought up by the author is totally opposite — reunion with a friend. I adore Sherman Alexie's poetic prose. The first flashback took place according to Victor's memory of his relationship with Thomas and as he describes, "the one that always had something to say" and when Victor's father still lived with the family, Thomas predicted how he would leave his family and tells him why. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is the character and agent, as his name literally indicates, who has built the fire under Victor.

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“This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Analysis Essay Example

this is what it means to say phoenix arizona pdf

For Victor, it is to reclaim his father. Thomas has an unusual habit of telling stories, but the narrative portrays these stories as inherently valuable. Victor wants to reclaim his father, while Thomas once dreamed of being a warrior in the old tradition. Latest answer posted July 31, 2016, 7:54 pm UTC 1 educator answer Victor is a melancholic character, troubled not only by his own past mistakes but by what he sees as the decline of tribal ties and traditions with which he identifies. The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material.

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