Destiny of Native Americans

While reading “The lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” I got a sense of what it is like to be the minority. Although some of the “ideas” are in his head, Alexie portrays the narrator to feel discriminated against. The story connects drinking and poor intellect with Native Americans as a whole. Although the Narrator went to college and had potential of being successful his family remained at the reservation awaiting his predictable return. He talks about he was “supposed to make it” proving very few Native Americans actually ever escape the Reservation.

The reservation is for all Native Americans who can’t break their stereotype of alcoholism and failure. When the narrator was no longer in the reservation he was treated as the outsider or felt that as though he was being judged due to his race. For example, at the 7/11 he was convinced that the cashier thought he would rob or murder him. It could be argued that the negative view on Native Americans led to the narrator’s alcohol problem. His alcohol problem led his failure in basketball—something he once was very good at and had a bright future because of.

Whether these instances are true or not, he must have had some experience with discrimination in the past to make him feel this way. For example, the police officer that stopped him for being in a neighborhood him “didn’t fit into” would sufficiently make a person feel lesser in comparison to other races. The stereotypes therefore play a huge role in his life stopping him from succeeding in education and his desires. The narrator quotes an old Indian poet, “Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there.” I believe this mindset and fate toward failure is both the responsibility of Native Americans willingly accepted this future and other races discriminating against them for no particular reason.

When he says “I know how all my dreams end anyway” makes it appear that as a Native American he knows what his life is suppose play out like. He would rather sleep because there is no disappointment involved like there is with everything else for him in the world.