Alexie has admitted that Victor is a representation of
himself. He also uses the word “reservation realism” in describing his style of
writing. But what exactly is reservation realism? Reservation realism seems
like it is something that describes the truths from the struggles in their
lives.
In The Lone Ranger and
Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, we are introduced to stories that are not
hopeful, and contain a big amount of alcoholism. Under these circumstances,
Alexie makes these stories easier to comprehend by lightening the mood with
humor and unique characters. Despite the conflicts, the characters still search
for their happy place and face the “reservation realism.”
“Every Little
Hurricane” gives us an insight into their life on the reservation. There is a
hurricane prediction and Victor’s parents are planning on throwing a huge
party. The hurricane is foreshadowing the events that are going to happen at
the party. At the party, drunken fights and other events have occurred which
resemble a hurricane. Victor’s uncles get into a disagreement and start fist
fighting. The narrator says that “They are all witnesses and nothing more.” (2)
Having to watch this fight and encounter
such problems such as a hurricane is part of “reservation realism.” Victor is
only able to stand back and watch the disagreement. He was not able to help
them or do anything about it. “Reservation realism” comes into play because it
relates to his own personal hurricanes.
On the reservation, Victor and the other Indians do not so
anything to ignore their current situations. They learned to accept it and move
on. Occasionally, they can escape it through their imagination. I think this is
why Thomas-Builds-A-Fire tells so many stories. It is his way of escaping the
hard times. Thomas is the only one that is brave enough to imagine a better
life. The others are too scared. They do not want to go to a place that may
never be real to them. With these hard times, they are forced to face the “reservation
realism.”
Along with the stories, Victor also shares other nightmares.
These can be related to Alexie’s struggles in real life. Throughout the book he
tells us about times when he was starving to death or when his father would
wake up drunk. This to me seems like it could be very realistic in relating to
his real life. After doing some research I found that the quality of life on
reservations experienced issues with life expectancy, nutrition, poverty, and
alcohol abuse. From some of the stories in the book, it seems like Alexie could
be indeed sharing some of his personal experiences. One could argue that he may
exaggerating a bit but he still shares the idea of the issue he was given.
There can be many definitions given for “reservation realism”
based on the book. The Lone Ranger and
Tonto Fistfight is an exciting but controversial book. We all may be facing
some “reservation realism” in our lives.
What do y’all think reservation realism means? Do you think Alexie’s
experiences are believable?
"Life on the
Reservations." U.S. History Online Textbook. Independence Hall
Association, 2012. Web. 30 Sep 2012.
<http://www.ushistory.org/us/40d.asp>.
Shelby, my favorite line from your story is, "We may all be facing some "reservation realism" in our lives." This is very true, and the meaning is deep.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of hard to post a comment on your post because I wrote about the same thing so I would be repeating myself. Haha But to put it plainly, I think reservation realism is what was "real" about a situation, conversation, or event. I used a few examples of this in my post about how a person can take a totally different meaning from something done or said, and that different meaning be what was "real" to them. I hope I'm making sense. Do you get I what I mean?
To answer your other question about if I think Alexie's experiences are believable is yes, I definitely do. Since he is writing his own experiences to us, we know that those experiences were very real, even if they were only real to Alexie.
Yes! I understand what you are saying. When I first read through this book I didn't grasp the meanings behind all of the events. Now that we are writing about them and discussing them in class, I can see where Alexie struggled in his real life. I wonder what all I could pick up if I read the book again.
DeleteEveryone has different ways of interpreting things and what it means to them. "Reservation realism" is a prime example. You and I have different views on the definition as does Alexie. It is not a bad thing that we all have these different views. It actually is a great way for us to open up our imaginations and dig down deep.
Shelby,
DeleteI feel the same way, I really want to read the book again after all of the class and blog discussions that have opened my eyes to things I didn't catch the first time through. Who knows what we would come across reading it again?
I really like your definition of "reservation realism" too, and I am happy that we both came up with different definitions because it gives the term an even deeper, complicated (in a good way) meaning. I think this is why Webster dictionary and Dictionary.com don't have a definition for this term (I tried looking one up to prove how everyone has a different opinion of what it means).
The term Realism itself is used in various ways in different fields of study. What does it mean to Alexie? We can't be sure. But I do think that it has to do with perspective. I think just as y'all came up with different definitions for the term, so different Native Americans in the story experience a different sense of reservation realism.
DeleteThe reservation realism is the realism that Sherman saw in his life, which included the alcoholism and the hope that was easily given up on. But i think some might have had a different view of the reservation realism and maybe some in a better light. Do yall think that other people that were in the same reservation had a different ideal or perception of realism then Alexie?
ReplyDeleteOscar,
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that other people that were on the same reservation had a different ideal or perception of what was going on. Alexie sees things in a really deep way. Some people see things in really shallow ways. It kind of goes with what our discussion in class had to do with today. We talked about how two people can watch the same television show or movie, one person could get something really meaningful and profound from it, and the other one could have just thought it was pretty entertaining, which shows that they both looked at it differently or wanted something different from it. I think it's the same with the people on the reservation. One person could have seen that there was nothing wrong with how the reservation functioned around alcoholism and story-telling, that it was just fine and dandy. Alexie, on the other hand, saw deeper into the reservation and it's problems. I hope that makes sense and doesn't just come off as a ramble.
Shelby, I really like your take on the subject and I love that we had two people give different perspectives. Just goes to show that no two sets of eyes see the same. Brooke and Oscar, i like where y'all have taken this and i agree that it is to a large degree about perspective. Perhaps every person on the reservation has their own sense of reservation realism. I'm sure plenty of Native Americans read his stories and think "wow, did he ever miss the mark" while others probably have seen the exact same thing. So, I think everyone on the reservation sees things differently. They all have their own "reservation realism". Do y'all agree at all or do i sound like a fool?
ReplyDelete