Sherman Alexie's Dreams

In the novel Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie utilizes the characters dreams to illustrate the relationship between the Native Americans and the white people. These dreams show an ongoing struggle amongst the two societies, in addition to the deterioration of the Indian culture. These dreams are better described as nightmares because not a single one of the dreams are positive and bare anything respectable about the Native American society. Sherman Alexie attempts to disclose the humiliation and poverty that the Native Americans have to endure, all the while being scolded by whites for rebelling against this degrading way of life. Sherman Alexie very effectively portrays that in the book through one of Thomas’s dreams: “He turned on his…television
Obviously, if it wasn’t for the whites, the Indians wouldn’t be huddled together on reservations, living off government rationed food, and dying from alcohol. However, Alexie points out the more serious problems the Indians have experienced—those during the times of war. In Junior’s dream, when he is captured by white soldiers and sentenced to death for the murder of 18 people, General Sheridan offers him a piece of paper, saying, “Just sign it, and God will help you.” Alexie is trying to show that even though the problems that the Indians encounter on the reservations are significant, the few brave ones who refused to be relocated during the war were simply killed without
In some of the dreams of the book, it’s suggested that if the Indians weren’t so divided among themselves, they would’ve had a better chance of standing up to whites when the latter oppressed them. For example, Chess’s dream shows that, during the war, Indians sometimes betrayed each other: “They led him to a small building, and the [Indian] quickly pulled a knife…the angry Indian grabbed the unpainted one from behind…knocked the knife away…and pinned his arms behind his back. A soldier lunged forward …and speared the unpainted [Indian]. The angry Indian trilled.” In a similar fashion, Junior’s dream supports the idea of disunity as he dreams that, “…each of his siblings climbed out of the car and ran away…into darkness…to other reservations…to crack houses…and never