Indian Killer: The Struggle of Existance

Sherman Alexie's Indian Killer was an amazing book. His ability to develop characters and use of flashbacks made the book engaging throughout. Alexie uses the murders as a way to stir up the underling racial tensions between Native Americans and the 'white man.' In an act as simple as naming the serial murderer, the Indian killer, the city of Seattle was torn into two groups with fear being the one shared emotion. For me, the most telling parts of the book were the chapters John imagined his life on the reservation. He looked at what his life would be like if he had grown up as a real Indian. The reservation is a place of love and acceptance that he didn't feel in his life. This is something that all people do, imagine their lives as it could have been. What would life be like if the choices made in our life were made different? This becomes John's obsession, one that he can only deal with by his lust for the blood of the one who caused him the pain in life. John undoubtedly had some mental instability. He was constantly hearing music and saw father Duncan who had disappeared years before. This mental handicap probably played into his pain, but John had no way of coping with it.
This idea is also seen in Marie. On page 61, the narrator reveals that Marie feels her life is a constant struggle. As she confronts her teacher, she does it out of necessity. Struggle is her existence. This is what I believe is the theme of the novel. It is certainly about the racial hatred of the first nations people, but more than that, it is the struggle of the Native Americans. Marie's character is the most outspoken Indian in the book. She knows her history and believes in the Native American culture. She stands up to her professors, organizes powwows, and feeds the homeless Indians. For her, Alexie writes, "For Marie, being Indian was mostly about survival, and she'd been fighting so hard for her survival." This struggle for survival is effected every Indian in the story, from the homeless who had nothing, to John who was raised by a family that had everything. Even Reggie was trying to survive. He was beat by his father at a young age, and when he attended the University of Washington, his teacher broke the trust they shared. Reggie was the most promising student in Dr. Mather's class. When Dr. Mather's found the tapes of the Indian stories, Reggie asked him to destroy them. And then the falling out happened, where again Reggie was back being a ten year old boy, simply surviving.
Who the killer is doesn't really matter. It could be any Indian. It could have been in the cast of characters Alexie introduces, or more likely in my mind, some Indian the reader never meets. The killer's identity is not ultimately important, what is important is the genocide of the Native people and the elimination of their culture. The struggle to stay Indian, to understand what it means to be Indian.

American Dream Reprise: A Contemporary Apathy

The American dream in Fear and Loathing was to be found in Las Vegas. On the surface its a bright, shining beacon of what can be attained. The riches and the glory of victory over circumstances, the rags to riches mentality that we discussed in class. But the underbelly of the whole scene, is grimy and desperately hopeless. Thompson is trying to say that the American dream is not not everything that people believe it to be. This nation was built on hard work and dedication. A people truly united and wanting to create a free state that all men have the opportunity to make a place for themselves. Now its a cesspool of desperate men grabbing for whatever they can get the fucking hands on.
Now we see this nation in a crisis in the gulf coast. This is the worse than Katrina, maybe not in the death total, but the effects of this oil spill will be felt for the generations to come. And what do we do about it? Everyone bitches and moans that its Obama's fault or BP's fault. Now we are standing in one big pissing match where everyone is pointing their dicks at someone else. "Its not my problem and I sure as hell ain't gonna fix it, that's for the guys in Washington or the oil tycoons across the pond." Well, now its everyone's problem. Eight weeks has gone by and the leak is still in full strength, with an entire industry completely destroyed. This isn't Haiti or some middle-of-fucking nowhere place, this is our backyard. The American dream has never been about being apathetic, but that is the way things have been going. During WWII, the country got off their lazy, self-centered ass and made it work. We became the greatest nation in the world, built on the backs of parents and women here at home. Now its time again to do something. If your tired of the way things are, which I surly am, then can't something be done?
In class, someone mentioned a division between realism and idealism. This is true, there is a distinction between the two, but at some point idealism needs to be made a reality.. I'm not asking everyone to run for political office, but get in touch with what it going on. Get your damn priorities straight. Provide for your family, but look out for others. Maybe it's not so 'golden rule' as it sounds but where has the sense of community gone? we didn't get here by just covering our own ass. If change is to come and the American dream to be realized, it will take more than one person. It will take a group of people with one voice.

The American Dream

A three bedroom house with a white picket fence and 2.3 children, that is the American dream. Or at least it was. Or maybe it never was. I invented a drinking game once that was called the American Dream. It was based on the dream of getting smashed really fast, maybe not the real American dream but something like it.
The real American dream is about getting some. Some of what? Anything and everything. Its a dream of greed whether we are willing to admit it or not. It could be blamed on consumerism but really its innate. People want power and money. The modern American dream is about doing nothing and getting everything. Its not just the money, but its the money with coupled with the complete lack of effort put it to obtain it. Its about the sex, drugs, and rockN'roll. We all expect freedom and liberty, that is an American value, but the American dream goes beyond just simple human rights. The American dream goes beyond the borders of this country. The world wants the same dream. Other nations and people groups want to have the rights, privileges, and opportunities that Americans enjoy. Everyone wants a home to call their own and a job that provides in a lifestyle that is just beyond living comfortably. The dream is that anyone can do anything, or almost anything, and make the coin that they feel deserved to. I hope that Americans want more than just money, power, and sex; but those seem to be a main motivating factor. The American dream has changed and continues to change, but it is still and will forever be based on the idea that anyone can make a name or a living for themselves. Maybe that includes swimming in a pool of money (Scrooge Mcduck style), or living a pleasantly comfortable life in a house with the white picket fence. Or maybe its just an attempt to get drunk.

The Quintessential 21st Century American

It is hard to define what the quintessential American is. Really, what is an American other than someone who is born in this country or has been patient enough to go through the "wonderfully" administered citizenship process. The fact is that the United States has no culture of its own. It is a country in a constant identity crisis. the U.S. is truly a melting pot with the ideas of real opportunity and the chance for prosperity mixed in like all-spice. I cannot define what is American culture, I'm not even sure of the values that she stands for any more.
The quintessential 21st Century American should be one that is more culturally diverse than most. It doesn't matter is you live in Miami with Cuban refugees or if you live in small town middle America, at some point you will be faced with another culture, ethnicity, religion, and the like. I believe it has become impossible to escape someone that is different than you in one way or another. So shouldn't Americans be accepting of everyone is a greater measure than any other nation? The quintessential American should, but he isn't. He doesn't know what he believes or what he wants to do. I read an article by a sociologist at Harvard that explained the contemporary American is not sure of who they are or what they want form life until they reach 35yrs. old. If this is true, which I hope its not, then the common American is focused on themselves for at least the first 35yrs of his life. It isn't that Americans can't accept others, rather it is a sense of entitlement that has developed. Its a need to get it for myself, to get what mine and screw everyone else. Sure enough, we can see Americans rally behind a cause like the earthquake relief in Haiti, but there is a sense of what is due to me.
The quintessential 21st Century American has potential to bring the greatest impact and influence on the world if only he could get out of an entitlement or welfare mentality. Even with all of the greed and corruption in American politics and big business, I still believe that the U.S. is the greatest nation. That is not to sound nationalistic or ethnocentric, but we have great opportunity and freedoms that other nations don't have the luxury of. But a shift needs to take place, a realization of what it means to be an American, from the humble beginnings to the powerful nation we see today.