Storytelling is an important mechanism of both reality and hope. In "A Good Story", the unnamed narrator (who is most likely Victor) tells an uplifting story of friendship after his mother complains that he only tell sad stories about life on the reservation. They address contemporary life on the reservation. Like Alexie, Victor's stories are bleak and realistic. Victor also likes to tell stories, but his stories are very different. His stories offer insight on tribal history and how the Spokane experience has changed over time. For example, Thomas Builds-the-Fire tells surreal stories that often have natural or historical settings. He depicts many kinds of storytelling in the collection. Alexie suggests that storytelling offers both catharsis and an avenue for his Spokane characters to preserve their history and their cultural traditions. Many of the characters in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven benefit psychically from telling stories. In that story, Victor plays a composition by Béla Bartók at a reservation carnival the narrator suggests that the audience identifies with the music because of its "beautiful dissonance and implied survival" (146). Alexie makes a similar point in "The First Annual All-Indian Horseshoe Pitch and Barbecue". In "Because My Father Always Said.", he writes, "Indians were pretty much born soldiers anyway. However, Alexie also emphasizes the inner strength and resilience that helps many of his characters cope with these problems. These include poverty, alcoholism, racism, and isolation from society outside one's reservation. ResilienceĮach story in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven showcases the hardships faced by the Spokane and other Indigenous peoples in the late 20th century (many of which still exist today). Through this story, Alexie demonstrates that if love is true, it can overcome a substantial amount of hate. Yet despite her frustration, Norma eventually returns to Jimmy because their love outweighs even the biggest flaws in their relationship. They love each other and are deeply compatible, but in "The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor", Norma leaves Jimmy briefly because she cannot stand his lighthearted attitude toward his own terminal cancer. Norma and Jimmy Many Horses' marriage is another example of this kind of conflicted relationship. He introduces this concept in "Every Little Hurricane", when Victor interprets his uncles' bloody fistfight as an expression of love. Throughout the collection, Alexie suggests that the most intense relationships often combine elements of both love and hate.
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