Sherman Alexie, "This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona" Analysis

  This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona" by Sherman Alexie is a story about the complicated relationship between two Indian men who grew up together, and eventually apart from each other. Victor, one of the men, must go to his deceased father’s house to collect his things, but does not have the money or transportation to get there. Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the other man and one who is considered to be slightly eccentric by others on the reservation, offers to help Victor get to his father’s house under the condition that he is allowed to take the trip with Victor. One quote that I found to be particularly interesting in this story can be found at the end, when Victor and Thomas Builds-the-Fire are departing after their trip:

            “Thomas took the ashes and smiled, closed his eyes, and told this story: ‘I’m going to travel to Spokane Falls one last time and toss these ashes into the water. And your father will rise like a salmon, leap over the bridge, over me, and find his way home. It will be beautiful. His teeth will shine like silver, like a rainbow. He will rise, Victor, he will rise.’

     “ ‘I was planning on doing the same thing with my half,’ Victor said. ‘But I didn’t imagine my father looking anything like a salmon. I thought it’d be like cleaning the attic or something. Like letting things go after they’ve stopped having any use.’

     ‘Nothing stops, cousin,’ Thomas said. ‘Nothing stops.’” (page 7).

           

            This quote, in my opinion, says a great deal about both of the characters. Thomas has an optimistic view of what will come of Victor’s father after his death, saying that he will “find his way home”, as if whatever time he spent on earth was only in preparation for something much better. Victor, on the other hand, has a more simple way of thinking about what to do with his father’s ashes; he plans on tossing them into the water as well, but not to honor his father, just to discard of them in an efficient way. I feel as though Thomas’s way of thinking is much more optimistic, and it seems as though he likes to think about the best side of people instead of the more ugly memories. This idea is confirmed when he calls Victor “cousin,” the name that the two called each other as children. Thomas remembers his close relationship with Victor and chooses not to acknowledge the way their relationship changed, while Victor is clearly a man who likes to cut all ties when he feels that a relationship has ended, as portrayed through the way he handles his father’s death. His statement “Like letting things go after they’ve stopped having any use” also alludes to his relationship with Thomas, both in the past and now: he stopped being friends with Thomas as a child when he found new people to spend his time with, and is letting Thomas go again now after their journey together because Thomas has served his purpose to him. I think that the way Thomas acknowledges Victor’s idea of letting things go, by saying that there is no way Victor can sever the ties between himself and his father or himself and Thomas, is quite beautiful, and I think this quote portrays the two men and their true colors very well. If we all tried to live more like Thomas at some points and choose to see the good in other people instead of viewing them as they are able to help us, I believe we would be more satisfied with ourselves and the people we surround ourselves with.