1 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
Silko, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, and Adrian Louis. He also speaks enthusiasti-
cally about Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and
claims Stephen King, John Steinbeck, and The Brady Bunch as significant influ-
ences. He sharply criticizes non–Native American contemporary authors who
feature Indians in their work, arguing that is one more form of the colonization
and co-optation historically experienced by American Indians. (For more on
this controversy, see the Study Guide on the Native American Renaissance in
Part II of this volume.)
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven, which received the PEN/
Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction, consists of twenty-two stories,
most set on the Spokane Indian reservation. Victor Joseph, Thomas Builds-the-
Fire, and “Junior” Polatkin appear at various ages in many (although not all) of
the stories. (In a joke repeated across many of his works, Alexie claims that if you
call out the name “Junior” on a reservation, seventeen men and three women will
turn around in response). The volume loosely approximates a short-story cycle
or sequence, but it does not quite have the sense of connection and coherence
characteristic of most works typically given that label. Certain themes do appear
across many stories, however, including the difficulty of negotiating the present
and a future out of a tribal past filled with loss, the effect of poverty on loving
relationships, and the relationship between alcoholism and despair. His prose has
been acclaimed for its humor, convincing dialogue, and metaphorically powerful
images. His critics have accused him of stereotyping for his depiction of so much
drunkenness and despair among contemporary Indians; he replies that he writes
what he has witnessed.
In addition to more than a dozen volumes of poetry, Alexie has published
the novels Reservation Blues (1995), Indian Killer (1996), and Flight (2007). He
is also the author of three other short-story collections: The Toughest Indian in
the World (2000); Ten Little Indians (2003), including “What You Pawn I Will
Redeem, ” which won an O. Henry Prize; and War Dances (2009). Students inter-
ested in learning more about Alexie’s life and his views will find many interviews
available online, including those at his own website, <www.fallsapart.com>. Under
“Academic Center” there are links to many scholarly articles.
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH
- Alexie has commented on the important role father/son relationships play
in many stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven. Students
might examine such aspects as conflict, role-modeling, abandonment, hold-
ing onto or trying to forget the past, and other factors that have an impact on
those relationships, perhaps most especially poverty and violence. Another
angle is to consider how Alexie uses the dynamics of father/son relationships
to comment on other aspects of contemporary native culture. For instance,
in the story “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian
Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock,”
the narrator remarks, “On a reservation, Indian men who abandon their
children are treated worse than white fathers who do the same thing. It’s