What You Pawn I Will Redeem Summary

In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” written by Sherman Alexie, Jackson Squared is a homeless alcoholic Indian man who is on a quest to prove to others that there is still good people in the world that are willing to help others. Jackson states, “The pawnbroker didn’t know it was stolen. And, besides, I’m on a mission here. I want to be a hero, you know? I want to win it back, like a knight” (Alexie 24). Jackson’s point is that he doesn’t want people to feel sorry for him because of his situation. He wants to prove to others that when someone is in a horrible situation that doesn’t mean that they should lose hope. For most people who face difficult situation it is much easier for them to give up, then to think that things are going to be better. Jackson believes that when a person is full of luxuries they do not know how to appreciate what they got, and never think of what can happen to them the day they are left with nothing. Jackson states, “I know
Jackson states, “Sitting beside Junior, smelling the smoke and the salt and the vomit, I wondered if my grandmother’s cancer started when somebody stole her powwow regalia. Maybe the cancer started in her broken heart and then leaked out into her breasts” (Alexie 14). In making this comment, Jackson is saying that people should not let anyone robe them of the little hope that they might have, that without hope people lose the true meaning of life. For example, many people focus on all the negative things that are seen or heard on T.V, internet and Radio, and let those things affect them. Sometimes when people see all the negative things in the world they lose hope that things will get better, but Jackson encourages others to never let anybody or anything deprive them from the hope that they