An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And...

Make It Out Alive In Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven’ (2005 edition) alcoholism plays a huge role throughout the book. Particularly in the short stories ‘Amusement’, ‘The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore’ and ‘A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result’. Kids on the reservation always start off good with school and sports keeping them busy, but somewhere along the way they always seem to fall off track. That is why things like basketball play such a huge role in their lives; distracting them from partying, drinking, and drugs. If just one person could make it out of there with a scholarship or something of that sort they would have hope. Victor being one of the most talked about character in these stories is a clear example of how his drinking problem affected him. In spite of that fact drinking affects every Indian on the reservation, if they havenà ¢â‚¬â„¢t drank, they’ve been around it all their lives. These stories help support why alcohol plays such a major role in their lives. In the short story ‘Amusement’, Victor and his friend Sally attend a carnival where most of its attendee’s are white. There they find another Indian man named Dirty Joe, he was dead drunk passed out on the ground. At first they tried helping him out but were embarrassed because the white people were pointing and laughing at them. Victor then had an idea and told Sally â€Å"Let’s put him on the roller coaster† (55). So