Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals

In the film, Smoke Signal , written by Sherman Alexie and in his short story, “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ’The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock", write a 250-300 word response on the topic of central themes shared between these two stories.

“I was born a goofy reservation mixed drink, and my father needed me just as much as he needed every other kind of drink.”

A big theme in both stories, in the film “Smoke Signal”, and the short story “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ’The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock" was Reservation Life.
It took mostly in the Indian reservation place where nobody went forwards, just stayed in time and sometimes they went even backwards. There weren’t any opportunities to be good educated. It was just a little place where everybody knew everyone. The marriages and relationships between these citizen and how they changed with alcoholism. In both stories is alcoholism a big factor of the childhood from Victor and the divorce of his parents. Victor would never have some conversations with his dad at times where his dad might be sober. The alcohol was one part of victor’s dad life. Victor looked always for love from his dad but the influence of alcohol would make his dad more to another person and would bring his dad to talk about his mom.

“I met your mother at a party in Spokane,” his father told him once and how it was to meet another Indian “We were the only two Indians at the party. Maybe the only two Indians in the whole town. I thought she was so beautiful. I figured she was the kind of woman who could make buffalo walk on up to her and give up their lives. She wouldn’t have needed to hunt. Every time we went walking, birds would follow us around. Hell, tumbleweeds would follow us around.”

Victor was an Indian who had to live without a real dad who would always be there and would be listen to Victor when he would have...

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