uthor in portraying that life, then the story itself offers "nothing surprising or disappointing." The story and character are marked by lowered expectations at best, no expectations at worst.
The story portrays the grittiness of life and the helplessness of the protagonist to change himself or his surroundings. This is hardly a new way to look at modern life, whether one is an American-Indian or a white person or an African-American, male or female, young or old. Neither is the author's lean and spare style unique but is rather commonplace among young writer's taking a negative, cynical, or harshly realistic perspective toward the generally tawdry lives of their down-and-out characters.
The appeal of such a story is its surface honesty, its refusal to whitewash the depressing nature of a life of a poor man, an outcast, a minority, a man trapped by forces apparently beyond his control. So many stories, TV shows, and films, when depicting the seamier side of life, close with a "happy ending." Raymond Carver is one writer often associated with such a depressing and pessimistic outlook, but his later stories began to show some hope for his often downtrodden characters. Charles Bukowski is another such writer, with an unadorned style similar to Alexie's, but his work is marked by a fondness, even a love for the seamy side of life, and a sense of humor about the absurdity of modern existence. Such a fondness and/or humor is absent from Alexie's story.
This story is neither as hopeful as some of Carver's later stories nor as effectively humorous as Bukowski. Certainly Alexie tries to be witty, but his rather awkward efforts at humor did not work for this reader, simply because they seemed forced and deliberately clever. Consider this passage for example: "When one person starts to look at another like a criminal, then the love is over. It's logical" (Alexie 24). The flatness of the first sentence is meant to be ironic, but the ...