“…THE ONLY INDIAN WHO SAW JIMI HENDRIX…”
It seemed a pretty natural selection for me to make for this blog. I was a teenager when Woodstock took place, I object to war, I’m a huge fan of music – especially from the 1960’s and 1970’s, and I’ve seen first hand the effects of alcoholism and broken families. Oh, yeah, and I also am ashamed of the way my government has treated American Indians.
I think the main theme of this chapter of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is how Victor and his father relate (or do not relate) to each other. While there are many themes in this chapter of the book, this is the one that seems to be threaded throughout. It is heartbreaking.
I found the themes in this chapter of the book to be interrelated, yet I really thought the way Alexie showed Victor’s father trying desperately to get away from traditional Indian values and Victor’s mother trying just as desperately to cling to and revive her traditional values most interesting. Alexie ties so many things together in this chapter and the entire book, it is almost hard to keep up with them, but I can easily pick out the father-son relationship.
It about broke my heart to read the passage where Victor is describing how he would wait for his father to get home at night so he could play “The Star Spangled Banner” for him while his father drank himself to sleep at the kitchen table. It reads “I would fall asleep under the table with my head near my father’s feet. We’d dream together until the sun came up.” It reminded me of my first husband and his father, and it made me very sad. I am so grateful that my children never had to live through that type of experience.
I find alcoholism such a destructive disease, and it certainly is evident in the Indian Nation. Alexie describes it so accurately in this book, and eloquently in this chapter. It is frustrating to know how hard the native Indians have been hit by this disease, and how little seems to be done to help them.
Another very poignant part of this chapter for me is the reference to war. I am very much against war (at least unnecessary wars) and thought it was interesting that Victor felt bad because he had not had a chance to fight in a war like his father had. His father’s reply, “…why the hell would you want to fight a war for this country? It’s been trying to kill Indians since the very beginning. Indians are pretty much born soldiers anyway. Don’t need a uniform to prove it.” I really think that this quote ties our class into this work of fiction. I am amazed at how much I have learned about the “Wild West”, and there is a small part of me that wishes I hadn’t learned it. Bad as it was/is, at least there is still time to try to make it better for our first Americans. I will start by knowing that my ancestors took this land from the Native Americans, and will learn more about what I can do to help them reclaim their traditions and dignity.
Lou,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you have some family, or at least close experience with alcoholism. After reading your recent blog post, I read a few online articles about alcohol and Native Americans. Several articles listed the same or similar statistics: Roughly 1 in 10 Native American Deaths are alcohol related – 3 times the national average. The suicide rate among Native Americans is nearly as high as the homicide rate.
The best article I found was at http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/native-americans-alcholism/
A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D. & Ed Wilson, Ph.D., MAC
It explores the issue much deeper than simply providing statistics. Part of the article is listed below for your convenience (us senior members of the class need to stick together).
“…regardless of the group being considered, alcohol abuse and dependence rates really are a reflection of an accumulation of contributing social, psychological, biological, and cultural factors.
Consider for a moment one such factor: that alcohol use is frequently a matter of learned behaviors based on community and cultural expectations. Most of us adopt alcohol use, and abuse, as patterns from our family, our community, and society at large. Who introduced alcohol to Native Americans? Prospectors, whalers, soldiers, and others whose immoderate alcohol “use” is now reflected in many of today’s Native American’s usage, and these stereotypical patterns continue to be handed down from one generation to the next.
Of course these learned behaviors could be changed if they weren’t serving a purpose, which, unfortunately, they do. For example, in many cases being drunk is a readily accepted excuse to diverge from cultural norms – an excuse to act out aggressively rather than adhering to a passive conformity, for example.
Drinking is also a way of achieving some temporary respite from crowded living arrangements that don’t allow for any privacy. Thirty years ago my neighbor on the upper Yukon was one of eight people occupying a cabin roughly fifteen by twenty feet – a cabin without electricity, running water, or any distractions. Who could blame him for disappearing into an alcohol induced stupor from time to time?
Alcohol also helps blot out the depression and frustration that comes from a seemingly hopeless future. In many communities the most capable people have left, pursuing educational, vocational, and social opportunities. Generations have seen a steady decline in leadership, stability, and ability. In some cases, nearly all of the women have left, preferring the easier life available to them with non-Native husbands, college education, or city jobs. Who can blame them for leaving, or for the hopeless young men left behind from drowning their loneliness?
The unending problem, of course, is that alcohol also makes all of the problems it “solves” worse; providing temporary fixes which preclude long term solutions. Depression that encourages alcohol abuse, while making the depression worse, is only one of a number of short and long term “Catch 22” features of alcohol misuse.”
The other point you made in your blog is one I can definitely relate to: “…I’ve learned so much about the “wild west” and…part of me wishes I hadn’t.” Sounds like you’re looking for a something to do with all that guilt. Me too! Peter Rampa pointed out (in Peter’s great dry style of humor way) that virtually every photo he found of Sherman Alexie was one in which he was laughing. Maybe this is what he’s laughing at….our privileged White guilt!
I’ll miss reading everyone’s blogs. Hope to cross paths with you in another class.
Matt
Thanks, Matt. I have enjoyed your comments and your posts too. You have always been able to fill in the dead spots in class, and I'm sure everyone appreciates that! Hope to see you in other classes too, and I will see you Saturday!
ReplyDeleteI'm taking IDS159 Spring semester, I think it's on Tuesday nights. Haven't decided what else - if anything - I will be taking. I love the Saturday classes...
Lou,
ReplyDeleteThat’s cool that you were a teen when Woodstock took place, it made your insight to this story really interesting to read.
I never really realized before how looked down upon Indians have been even still today, it is sad. I just don’t understand why… and reading this book and feeling so connected to the characters makes it seem even worse. What’s also sad though is the whole thing about Indians and Alcohol, there was a hardly a story without alcohol in it. I didn’t know how true that was though, that they have such problems with alcoholism.
The Jimi Hendrix story also stuck out to me the most. Like you I’ve experienced the effects of alcoholism on a family, which is probably another reason I was so fixed on this particular story, I was really feeling with Victor throughout the book. I can’t say I’ve ever layed under a table at my fathers feet, but I’ve sat at the top of the stairs all night. And though my dad is still around it sometimes feels like he’s long gone. It really makes me wonder how much of the book is really true, I read that Alexie based Victors character off himself. Even though he went through a lot he turned out well, an amazing writer! And is able to look at things with humor still, or at least write about them that way. Another reason I enjoyed the book so much. Another great post, see you Saturday!
Christina