The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a 1993 collection of interconnected short stories by Sherman Alexie. The characters and stories in the book, particularly "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" provided the basis of Alexie's screenplay for the film Smoke Signals.^{[1] [2]}

The collection was originally released in 1993; it was reissued in 2005, with two new stories, by Grove Atlantic Press.

Plot Overview

The short stories are interconnected, but each is unique. All of the stories center around the life of the Native Americans, or Indians, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Thomas Builds-the-Fire, an eccentric and loose-mouthed, but good-hearted storyteller, is one of the central protagonists whose voice is heard throughout most of the stories. The narrative also centers on Victor Joseph, a cynical Spokane embittered by his childhood experiences in the reservation and his vain attempts to find a place in white man's civilization as an adult, and his friends and family. Victor tells some of the stories from his first-person perspective, while others are told about him from the third-person omniscient perspective, or in the first-person perspective by some of Victor's friends on the reservation.

Stories

"Every Little Hurricane"

Victor remembers the hardships of his childhood in the Spokane Reservation, particularly on his ninth year's New Years Eve party at his parents' home.

"A Drug Called Tradition"

"Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play The Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock"

Victor reminisces about the few good memories he had of his father before he deserted his family.

"Crazy Horse Dreams"

Victor fails to meet a woman's image of the ideal Indian hero.

"The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore"

Victor and Adrian discuss the rise and fall of their reservation basketball heroes and the dreams that they carried for their tribemates.

"Amusements"

"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

After Victor's father has died, Victor travels to Phoenix to collect his father's remains with the help of Thomas Builds-the-Fire. During their journey, Victor learns to his immense surprise that he and Thomas, as different as they are, have actually a lot more in common than he could have imagined.

"The Fun House"

"All I Wanted to Do Was Dance"

"The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire"

Because of his tendency to tell uncomfortable truths about the doings of the local Bureau of Indian Affairs and corrupt tribesmen, Thomas is brought before a court, where his compulsive story-telling earn him both a ridiculous verdict and the audience he has long sought.

"Distances"

This chapter is a dystopian outlook on what the Indians would behave like if the white man had been eradicated from their ancient lands by some cataclysm and they would return to their traditions of old.

"Jesus Christ's Half-Brother Is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation"

"A Train Is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result"

Samuel Builds-the-Fire, Thomas's grandfather, loses his job on his birthday, reminisces about his storytelling past, and finally, consumed by despair, lays his head in the path of an oncoming train.

"A Good Story"

"The First Annual All-Indian Horseshoe Pitch and Barbecue"

"The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor"

James Many Horses learns he is dying of cancer and reflects on the history of his marriage to his wife, Norma.

"Indian Education"

"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven"

"Family Portrait"

"Somebody Kept Saying Powwow"

"Witnesses, Secret and Not"

"Flight"

(added in 2003 reissue)

"Junior Polatkin's Wild West Show"

(added in 2003 reissue)

Themes

The short story cycle is a narrative saturated with alcohol. Of this topic, Alexie states, "when I write about the destructive effects of alcohol on Indians, I am not writing out of a literary stance or a colonized mind's need to reinforce stereotypes. I am writing autobiography."^[3]

Although many stories present alcohol abuse as an unavoidable problem, "A Drug Called Tradition" suggests that Indians can resist alcohol dependence and rediscover their native identity. During their vision, the boys go back to the time before they each tasted alcohol. After their rejection of the alcohol, the boys "sing and dance and drum. They steal horses." ^[4] This passage implies that the boys can share in male camaraderie through native practices, but only if they reject alcohol.

This story demonstrates the Indians' desire to transcend the norm in their society and embrace their native roots. The community ties between the Indians have all but disappeared. Thomas is the only one who clings to the past heritage, and in the end, after falling into toxic waste, he convinces the rest of the reservation to rise up and claim their past history and live as they once did: in peace. However, another possible interpretation could be that wishing oneself back to traditional life has been made impossible by the change of times and that only by arranging oneself with the present, without descending into self-destructive behavior (hence the titular "drug"), would allow one to attain peace in life.

Another possible theme could be that wishing oneself back to traditional life has been made impossible by the change of times and that only by making a compromise with the present, without descending into self-destructive behavior, would allow one to attain peace in life. Hints at such a cultural compromise are given (among others) in "A Drug Called Tradition", the dystopian story "Distances", and - on a more personal level - "This is What It Means to say Phoenix, Arizona".

Awards

• Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award: Best First Book of Fiction Citation Winner
• Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award
• Washington State Governor's Writers Award
• The Best American Short Stories 1994 includes "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

Footnotes

See also

• Native American Renaissance
• Native American Studies
• Smoke Signals

References

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

External links

• Sherman Alexie's Official Website