Gloria Bird realizes that for generations Native Americans have had drinking problems, and she also realizes that it is difficult for “native writers to accurately represent our communities without exploiting them.” (G. Bird) However, Bird criticizes Alexie of embellishing or exaggerating the Native Americans’ despair. Alexie cannot ignore the alcohol situation when describing Native American culture, but Alexie does not need to make alcoholism a common trait amongst almost every ‘Indian’ on the reservation and other reservations. Bird’s statement concerning Alexie’s embellishment of Native American despair due to alcoholism is an accurate interpretation of Reservation Blues.
In Reservation Blues, almost every Native American is an alcoholic. Two of the main characters, Victor and Junior, spend all of their money on booze and get wasted on a regular basis. “After the tavern had closed, Junior and Victor climbed into the water truck and passed out.” (p. 24) It is reasonable for there to be a few drunks, but Alexie introduces or makes references to too many Indians who either lost everything or their lives because of alcohol. When Thomas’ father Samuel is introduced he is drunk, and Alexie explains that this is normal, for “Thomas… had lost count of the number of times he’d saved his father…
Once, a month, he bailed his father out of jail for drunk and disorderly behavior.” (p. 95) Even though Thomas didn’t drink, he was always around drunks for even his father was a drunk. Even Thomas’ mother drank for most of her adult life. Chess asked Thomas if his mother drink when she was alive, and Thomas responded with “She did. Bu she quit. She was sober when she died.” (p.
The Essay on Thomas Jefferson and American History
“Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.”Those are the words of Thomas Jefferson; one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and among the first Americans to have to defend the newly won liberties of Americans from intrusion against a greater world power. It makes Thomas Jefferson one of the most prominent leaders and individuals in the United States.Thomas ...
118) Thomas goes on to say that she quit because of an incident during a New Year’s Eve party. “Dad got real drunk, kicked everybody out, and then took all the furniture out on the front lawn, and burned it.” (p. 118) Alexie does not just mention that Samuel is a drunk; he goes further to say that Samuel was an extremely talented basketball player, but alcohol caused Samuel to throw his basketball future away. Even when Samuel was a young man he was drinking, when the tribal cop, Wilson, asked Samuel and Lester, “You two been drinking?” (p. 102) Lester responds with “I’ve been drinking since I was five… Kindergarten is hard on a man.” (p.
102) Lester is another secondary character that is introduced who happens to be a drunk, for that is how he got his name Lester Falls Apart. “Lester Falls Apart, the most accomplished drunk on the Spokane Reservation,” (p. 151) However, It could be worse for Thomas, because both Victor’s and Junior’s fathers were not just drunks but were also dead. In Reservation Blues, not much information is given about Victor’s parents; there are only references to the death of Victor’s father in Arizona and the simple fact that his mother is dead.
The reason his father died in Arizona is that he could not bear any longer to live on the Spokane Reservation after what he did. One night he got drunk and accidentally set the house on fire and not everyone could be saved. Junior’s parents didn’t just come home drunk; once even they drove to the tavern with their children in the backseats. They would then go in the tavern for hours drinking while their children were still in the car. Finally, Junior’s parents were at a party, and on their ride home they got in a car wreck and died.
Alcoholism was not just a Spokane problem; it was part of every Native American’s life, because even the Native Americans that weren’t drunks themselves had either a close relative or a close friend that was a drunk. Chess and Checkers were Flathead Indians, and though they were not alcoholics their father was. “He’d come home all drunk and screaming. Be talking about how he was a radio man during World War II.” (p. 119) Chess and Checker’s father was neither old enough nor of the right tribe to have been in World War II. It is understandable that Native Americans would have a higher percentage of Alcoholics than other Americans because that has been the trend for generations.
The Essay on Public Policies Towards Native Americans
Public Policies Towards Native Americans Native American Policy is the set of laws and procedures developed and adapted in the United States to define the relationships between Native Americans and the federal government. Over the course of two hundred years, this policy has undergone many changes. At times, the federal government has recognized indigenous peoples as independent political ...
It would be wrong for Alexie to avoid the subject, because alcohol plays a major role on reservations even today. Native Americans often drink to get away from their problems, and it doesn’t take long for the drinking to become a big problem. Poverty is everywhere on reservations and is the most common reason people start drinking, for when they are drunk, they forget about the hardships of poverty. Although getting drunk might be a good temporary solution to the reality of the hardships poverty presents, drinking is a vicious cycle, for people drink to get rid of their problems then they spend all of their money on alcohol, so they are still in poverty. There is no doubt that alcohol has played a major role in Native American life for generations. The question really came down to does alcohol still control the lives of most Native Americans in present day, and does it have this effect to the extend that Alexie depicts in Reservation Blues? The answer is no, for Alexie gives the impression that ninety percent of the ‘Indians’ today are fall over drunks.
It is reasonable to believe that there are Native Americans who are drunks, for there are people from every race or nationality who are drunks. The percentage of Native Americans who are drunks is probably higher than other Americans, but there is a point where it is unreasonable to believe that three of every five people of any race are drunks.
