In Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fistfight in Heaven” there seems to be the common thread of racial injustice that we have been dealing with for the majority of this class. There were a few striking scenes in which the narrator is treated in absurd ways merely because he is of Native American decent. In some instances the racial stereotyping is done by outsiders but in some instances the narrator intentionally stereotypes himself for his own amusement.
An example of the first case is when the narrator is driving around town trying to blow off some steam from a recent fight he has had with his girlfriend. He is pulled over for no reason other than he doesn’t fit the neighborhood’s “profile”. The narrator says he wants to tell the officer, “I don’t fit the profile of the country”(Alexie 183). This is the narrator poking fun at how ridiculous of a situation he and his race is involved in. He is stating that he was the native people of this land and it is absurd for him not to fit the profile of his native country.
The narrator seems to take pleasure at some points in the fact that people racial discriminate against him and makes light of the situations. He is poking fun at the fact that he is considered an outsider in his native country. He goes to a 7-11 and since he used to work at one he knows that he is immediately seen as a threat as soon as he enters. The narrator states, “He knew this dark skin and long, black hair of mine was dangerous”(Alexie 183). The narrator pushes all the right buttons just so he is discriminated against to the highest extent. He ends up laughing about the situation and shows that he is harmless underneath his “dangerous” exterior.
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