Lone Ranger & Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

In the stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, humor is used to present serious subjects, showing that in one sense, the only way to view some issues without crying is to laugh. The stories show the plight of the modern Indian living near his or her birthright but no longer in control of it, and this is a key issue reflected in many of the stories. Victor is the central character who is fully aware of the Native American traditions of his people, but he finds those traditions lost today in a community filled with alcohol and violence, colored by the despair of many of the people. Many of the ancient customs are contrasted with the culture of the contemporary world, from electric guitars to diet Pepsi. The loss of the Native American traditions can be traced to the history of the conquest of the native culture by whites, an issue raised in sardonic form when Alexie asks,

Imagine Crazy Horse invented the atom bomb in 1876 and detonate

. . .
occurs again and again in these stories. Victor remembers his father and mother as often being drunk, and he himself drinks heavily, showing how this ill is visited on each subsequent generation: I was conceived during one of those drunken nights, half of me formed by my father's whiskey sperm, the other half formed by my mother's vodka egg (27). Alcohol becomes a way of life, justified by the deadening nature of life on the reservation, and made such a part of everyday that being sober is seen as the aberration: "Nothing more hopeless than a sober Indian" (87). Alcohol is a way of forgetting that the past has been taken away and the future has little meaning. The need to heed the past is a theme in the story of ThomasBuildstheFire, himself a storyteller mocked by everyone and heeded by no one. Yet, he has stories that would give them a sense of identity, a dignity, and a meaning they clearly want and yet fail to see when it is placed before them. Rather than trying to understand, they hide in alcohol. Victor's family drinks heavily. It contributes to the fighting of his mother and father, the fighting of his two uncles, and other family tensions. Victor and his friends spend a good deal of time finding something
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Native American, Aunt Nezzy, Native Americans, Communication Channels, Christmas Eve, Fistfight Heaven, Washington DC, Smoke Signals, Victor Sender, Alexie Source, native american, white society, tonto fistfight heaven, fistfight heaven, lone ranger, tonto fistfight, lone ranger tonto, ranger tonto, ranger tonto fistfight, short stories, native americans, native american traditions, native american society, role storyteller, stories victor,
Approximate Word count = 1612
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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