What It Means to Phoenix, Az.

859 Words4 Pages
“This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Sherman Alexis’s short story “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” describes two man’s journey of understanding tradition, modern day life and community. It imposes the belief that taking care of each other will help to preserve tradition and should be a way of life. The short story shows the separation of thoughts between the Americanized West and the Native American West. Both characters are raised in the same ways, but see things from two completely different sides of the spectrum. The Americanized version is the simple thought process of letting things go and moving on with out a second thought. The Native American side is the polar opposite. Everything means something and everything belongs to something else. Nothing gets thrown out or cast aside in the Native culture and this concept is explored throughout Alexie’s story. The story consists of two characters named Thomas and Victor who both analyze things differently. Thomas is considered weird and not at all like his peers on the reservation, but still a traditional Indian while Victor is established as being more modern with many personal and social issues holding him back. By the end of the their journey Victor decides to spilt his fathers ashes with Thomas as a way of expressing his thanks for helping him out in his time of need. Thomas and Victor both unintentionally decide to pour the ashes into the Spokane Falls. The difference in their reasons is what makes the whole short story important. The way Alexie shows that despite being from the same place and raised in the same way – no two people are alike while still realizing that the people you’ve known forever can be important in helping you during your time of need is what makes this tale much different than the others we’ve looked at throughout the semester. Thomas believes that
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