Reservation Blues Essay
Reservation Blues
Sherman Alexie, author of the novel Reservation Blues, explains that at the start of an Indian’s life on a reservation, he or she is destined to be hopeless. First, parental guidance is infrequent leaving many infant Indians with an insufficient childhood. After that, Indian children experience poor education revolved around heaps of stereotyping and bullying from their white classmates and teachers. Next, any sort of entertainment such as television, music, and books are extremely rare. Then leaving their life with a lack of stability and sustainability, an Indian grows up on a reservation with little to no job opportunity. On top of that, reservations are subjected to commodity food; food hardly sufficient and plentiful enough to satisfy a human’s basic needs. All of these factors fill the lives on the reservation with despair, causing most Indians to indulge in alcohol, violence, and suicide. And so, hopelessness within modern Native Americans ultimately leads to self destructive behavior.
Hopelessness eludes few Indians on the Spokanes Reservations, and Samuel Build-The-Fire profoundly exemplifies lost hope. Alexie asserts that when Builds-The-Fires was young, he was named Player of the Year and was interviewed by Walter Cronkite because of his significant basketball talent. Samuel became a hero because of his success, and his fellow tribe members wanted him to become more than just an average Indian on the reservation. Until, that is, Alexie describes that after a crooked basketball game with the Reservation’s white policeman, Samuel’s basketball ability was lost. This loss in Samuel’s life created a void, leaving him empty. After dragging his old, drunken, helpless father in from the lawn outside, Builds-The-Fire’s son, Thomas expresses that “His basketball days [are] over, he [doesn’t] have much else.” Finally, Samuel’s destructive behavior of being an alcoholic and a constant public disturbance articulates that he has no hope in life.
Sherman Alexie, author of the novel Reservation Blues, explains that at the start of an Indian’s life on a reservation, he or she is destined to be hopeless. First, parental guidance is infrequent leaving many infant Indians with an insufficient childhood. After that, Indian children experience poor education revolved around heaps of stereotyping and bullying from their white classmates and teachers. Next, any sort of entertainment such as television, music, and books are extremely rare. Then leaving their life with a lack of stability and sustainability, an Indian grows up on a reservation with little to no job opportunity. On top of that, reservations are subjected to commodity food; food hardly sufficient and plentiful enough to satisfy a human’s basic needs. All of these factors fill the lives on the reservation with despair, causing most Indians to indulge in alcohol, violence, and suicide. And so, hopelessness within modern Native Americans ultimately leads to self destructive behavior.
Hopelessness eludes few Indians on the Spokanes Reservations, and Samuel Build-The-Fire profoundly exemplifies lost hope. Alexie asserts that when Builds-The-Fires was young, he was named Player of the Year and was interviewed by Walter Cronkite because of his significant basketball talent. Samuel became a hero because of his success, and his fellow tribe members wanted him to become more than just an average Indian on the reservation. Until, that is, Alexie describes that after a crooked basketball game with the Reservation’s white policeman, Samuel’s basketball ability was lost. This loss in Samuel’s life created a void, leaving him empty. After dragging his old, drunken, helpless father in from the lawn outside, Builds-The-Fire’s son, Thomas expresses that “His basketball days [are] over, he [doesn’t] have much else.” Finally, Samuel’s destructive behavior of being an alcoholic and a constant public disturbance articulates that he has no hope in life.