Native American identity expressed by an unreliable narrator

Sherman Alexie skillfully uses an unreliable narrator throughout the story, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” The Native American narrator describes other characters in the story as racially profiling him in his encounters. In the scene at the 7-11, the graveyard-shift worker seems to suspect the narrator of intending to rob his store. However, the readers cannot be sure whether the employee truly feels this way or the narrator suspects him to be racist because he is white. In a sense, both characters are racially profiling each other. All information and details about the employee come from the narrator. He explains that the clerk was “searching for some response that would reassure him that [the narrator] wasn’t an armed robber.” This biased information suggests that the narrator is paranoid that people view him differently because of his ethnicity.

However, people do view him differently because of his ethnicity. When he drives through a “nice residential neighborhood” a police officer stops him and tells him that he is ‘making people nervous’ and he doesn’t ‘fit the profile of the neighborhood.’ Here, the narration seems more reliable because of specific quotes used to tell the story. After experiencing situations like this so often, it becomes understandable that the narrator considers all white people to use racial stereotypes against him.

Even his girlfriend seems to racially profile him. She accuses him of being ‘drunk all the time and stupid.’ Readers can sense that there is truth behind her claim because the narrator is so hurt and offended by her words. He explains that the couple’s “arguments were just as damaging as a fist.” In the flashback scene of his dysfunctional relationship, the narration is somewhat unreliable when discussing insignificant details. He claims that his girlfriend was “a genius.” Knowing that the narrator is not considerably intelligent, his account of his girlfriend’s IQ is not to be taken literally.

The narrator’s explanation of his family’s expectations for him seems skewed as well. He complains that they expect him “to rise above the rest of the reservation like a fucking eagle or something.” While perhaps they have high expectations for him, this exaggerated claim shows once again that his perception of other characters in this story is somewhat clouded by his past experiences of injustice and failure.