Group Web Project

Out of the possible ideas for the web project, I would be most interested in options E (or A, but mostly E). I would really like to delve deeper into several of Alexie's stories and interpret his various literary methods, especially his use of humor. I think that by breaking down Alexie's style and interpreting the meanings behind the stories, my group and I (as well as any readers of Alexie's work) will be able to arrive at a richer understanding and appreciation of the text. This interpretation of his stories could also include revealing Alexie's attitude towards humor in real life (via interviews or speeches).

Sadly, I'm pretty unskilled when it comes to web design ... but I'd be more than willing to contribute creatively and learn as much I can!

Summary Application (TLRATFIH)

Summary Application (TLRATFIH):

In his essay, Coulombe examines the purpose and use of humor in Sherman Alexie's work as well as the criticism it receives. In doing so, Coulombe confronts the assertions of Alexie's critics who claim his bold use of humor perpetuates the notion of Indians as pitiable drunks and prevents white readers from seeing beyond these predisposed cultural typecasts. He argues that Alexie's multifaceted brand of humor, found in most of his works but most notably in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, is actually a critical element of the social and moral landscape of Alexie's writing, which uses humor as a means of both unification and revelation. To support this argument, Coulombe discusses examples of Alexie's effective use of humor in several of his short stories. By using humor as a tool to repair, protect, expose, and create, Coulombe asserts that Alexie unflinchingly bridges the gap between disconnection and unity. Alexie uses this carefully-crafted humorous platform to dispel generalized assumptions and encourage readers to embrace a shared sense of humanity. By periodically referring back to the complaints of Alexie's critics, Coulombe challenges their collective assumption that Alexie presents Indians as purposeless stereotypes that use sardonic humor to further pigeonhole themselves. He contends that by employing humor, however disconcerting or impractical it may seem, Alexie persuades both white and Indian readers to re-evaluate their preconceived social and moral notions in order to reach a new level of clarity, connection, and empathy.


According to Coulombe, the act of storytelling and its ability to foster “self-knowledge and social awareness” is readily apparent in Alexie’s emotionally complex -- and not easily unraveled – stories (95). He claims that “by creating situations that resist formulaic responses, Alexie fits into a longstanding tradition of Indian storytelling” (97). This method of storytelling closely links Alexie with “Trickster” and Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who both expose distorted realities and incite listeners to “rethink the circumstances” that create it (Coulombe 97). The “painful and wrenching [realizations]” that Alexie conjures in his stories prompt his readers to “correct” their “complacency and resistance” to a culture that is largely preserved in the wisdom of storytelling. By crafting stories with deeply rooted sadness and indistinct resolutions, Alexie forces “readers to re-evaluate accepted ways of thinking” so that there might be “the potential for increased understanding” (Coulombe 97-98).

This notion of storytelling as crucial to shedding light on the issues that plague Indians is represented in Alexie’s story “A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result.” The central character, Samuel Builds-the-Fire (grandfather to Thomas) has “the gift of storytelling” (Alexie 132). Sure that his stories were capable of teaching the people around him how to turn their world “into something better,” Samuel spread his wisdom until the day came when “all the younger people on the reservation had no time for stories” (Alexie 134-135). After working in a motel and witnessing first-hand the tragic circumstances that befall Indians, “the stories waiting to be told left [Samuel] and never returned” (Alexie 137). Samuel retreats into a bar after being let go from the job that exposed him to so many horrors, despite having watched the people around him relinquish their dreams for the anesthetic of alcohol. With one drink, Samuel “knew all about how it begins; he knew he wanted to live this way now” (Alexie 134). Here, Alexie underscores the seemingly inescapable forces of “fear and failure” that can invade even the most spiritually in-tune Indian in the guise of drunken clarity, rendering them numb. Through this sad yet caustic account of the fall of a former storyteller, Alexie exposes the raw, inevitable conflict that paralyzes the modern Indian: “At the halfway point of any drunken night, there is a moment when an Indian realizes he cannot turn back toward tradition and that he has no map to guide him toward the future” (Alexie 134). The “world [Alexie] depicts” in this story, while it offers no simple resolution or answer, “provides an emotional and intellectual meeting ground for his readers to reconsider reductive stereotypes” (Coulombe 96-97). Rather than present Samuel Builds-the-Fire as merely a one-dimensional drunken typecast, Alexie uses elements of storytelling and humor to “provoke [his] readers to rethink the circumstances that allow the sad and sardonic humor” (Coulombe 97). By crafting an empathetic place in which readers of all backgrounds can dissect layers of meaning, Alexie “adds a complex new dynamic to the communal territory allowed by stories” (Coulombe 98). This narrative strategy allows Alexie to transcend the “purely logical … or traditional efforts to promote understanding” and instead engage his readers through a shared sense of humanity that ultimately “necessitates analysis, clarification, and … identification” (Coulombe 96).



WORKS CITED:

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
New York: Grove Press, 2005.

Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.

Coulombe Essay Summary

In his essay, Coulombe examines the purpose and use of humor in Sherman Alexie's work as well as the criticism it receives. In doing so, Coulombe confronts the assertions of Alexie's critics who claim his bold use of humor perpetuates the notion of Indians as pitiable drunks and prevents white readers from seeing beyond these predisposed cultural typecasts. He argues that Alexie's multifaceted brand of humor, found in most of his works but most notably in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, is actually a critical element of the social and moral landscape of Alexie's writing, which uses humor as a means of both unification and revelation. To support this argument, Coulombe discusses examples of Alexie's effective use of humor in several of his short stories. By using humor as a tool to repair, protect, expose, and create, Coulombe asserts that Alexie unflinchingly bridges the gap between disconnection and unity. Alexie uses this carefully-crafted humorous platform to dispel generalized assumptions and encourage readers to embrace a shared sense of humanity. By periodically referring back to the complaints of Alexie's critics, Coulombe challenges their collective assumption that Alexie presents Indians as purposeless stereotypes that use sardonic humor to further pigeonhole themselves. He contends that by employing humor, however disconcerting or impractical it may seem, Alexie persuades both white and Indian readers to re-evaluate their preconceived social and moral notions in order to reach a new level of clarity, connection, and empathy.

TLRATFIH response

1). Frank Ross asked Alexie about the political nature of his writing, quoting him as saying he does not like to beat readers over the head with it. Alexie replied: “I like to make them laugh first, then beat them over the head . . . when they are defenseless.” Describe some examples from the stories that demonstrate this tactic. Choose one example to focus on and explain how the humor and political point work together as in the above quote.

Humor - albeit it mostly dark - is evident throughout most of Alexie's stories in TLRATFIH. Whether indulging in mind-altering drugs in search of spiritual visions or tossing a drunk Indian onto a roller coaster, Alexie wraps even his darkest subject matters into an accessible package through the use of humorous retelling. In "Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' At Woodstock," the character of Victor describes his father's unwavering obsession with Jimi Hendrix and the circumstances that lead him to see his hero playing at Woodstock. In this story, Alexie caustically relates his father's involvement in a anti-war demonstration that gleaned a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph and jail-time. The irony of the photograph, which captured the use of violence to negate violence, is as humorous as it is pointed. The subsequent captions that accompanied this visual dichotomy teemed with racist puns: "ONE WARRIOR AGAINST WAR" and "PEACEFUL GATHERING TURNS INTO NATIVE UPRISING." Even his father's experience in jail was defined by killings that were labeled only by the victim's skin color. This dark portrait of race is described in the story against a backdrop of odd humor; in fact, the entire story that unfolds surrounding Victor's father's fixation with Jimi Hendrix is heavy with sadness but carried lightly by its sardonic delivery. His parent's volatile relationship and his father's motorcycle injury and eventual departure are all tinged with a knowing sense of humor, however dark it may be. By relating the story in a sardonic tone, Alexie is able to subtly tap into his reader's emotions that are left wide open in the presence of humor. Because he refrains from an overly depressing and pitying tone, Alexie creates a harmony between the intensity of the story and it's casual delivery so that readers are more inclined to receive the emotional message that lies within.



2). On whiteness, Indian identity and colonialism, Alexie says, “What is colonialism but the breeding out of existence of the colonized? The most dangerous thing for Indians, then, now and forever is that we love our colonizers. And we do.” He goes on to say, and I paraphrase, that Indian identity now is mostly a matter of cultural difference; that culture is received knowledge, because the authentic practitioners are gone. The culture is all adopted culture, not innate. Colonization is complete. Think about how what he is discussing plays out in his stories. Choose one (a different one than for the first question) and discuss how a story represents the characters' relationship to the tribe's past and to the colonizing culture.

In "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" Alexie delves deeper into the character of Thomas Builds-the-fire and his relationship with Victor. Thomas is an outcast in the reservation; his penchant for "storytelling" and his spiritual oddities make him and easy target for bullying and disregard. However, in a community that is fraught with alcoholism, fear, and poverty, Thomas seems to be one of the few Indians who remains in touch with the spirituality that defines Indian culture. He receives visions in dreams and relates stories about the people around him that are both omniscient and revealing. However, Victor is described as feeling "embarrassed" to be around Thomas and has a history of treating him as badly as most everyone else on the reservation. Victor laments, "Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams." In the past, Indian communities shared timeless stories and knowledge that fostered a cultural bond. This common sense of identity and heritage transcended the boundaries of time, but as colonization took hold in the Indian world it slowly faded into the realm of irrelevance and shame. Thomas Builds-the-Fire, however, remains connected to the mystic properties of storytelling and nature despite the scorn he receives from his fellow Indians, who have long-since succumbed to the dynamic force of colonization.