The Last Storyteller Essay Example for Free

The Last Storyteller EssayBefore the Europeans colonized America different tribes of inwrought Americas appointed storytellers to keep the tribes history alive. In This Is What It Means to check out Phoenix, Arizona, by Sherman Alexie an odd male child named doubting Thomas Builds-the-Fire holds the title of storyteller. This short story is about a journey Thomas takes with his old fri residual victor to claim higher-ups fathers ashes from Phoenix, Arizona and bring them back to their backlog in Spokane. The story ultimately portrays the strain between Victors and Thomass friendship. Alexie uses Thomas and his friendship with Victor to register that not every unity conforms to what we c all told the social norms.Thomas Builds-the-Fire is different from the other boys from his reservation. In the opening background Victor is standing in line at the trading post. He has a hundred sawhorse check in hand to cover travel expenses to recover his father when he notices Thoma s at a magazine rack. When Thomas approaches Victor and they start a conversation about his father. All the Indians at the trading post are surprised Victor is actually talking with him. In This Is What It Means to verbalize Phoenix, Arizona perspective is shown by All the other Indians stared, surprised that Victor was even talking to Thomas. nonexistence talked to Thomas anymore because he told the same damn stories over and over again (Alexie 171). This is when we first keep out that Thomas is not accepted by his by his own people and is considered an outsider. Thomas is not taken seriously and is not listened too because he enjoys recounting storys of his tribes past.Thomas makes a proposition to Victor agreeing to help with expenses for his journey to reclaim his fathers ashes if he is allowed to come. Victor reluctantly agrees to Thomass terms. The boys sat next to each other on the flight along with a tiny white woman who had the window seat. Thomas begins a conversation w ith the woman despite Victors embarrassment. In This Is What It Means to advance Phoenix, Arizona fictional character is shown by Excuse me, miss, Thomas asked. are you a gymnast or some issue (Alexie 173)? Thomas is out spoken and is not afraid of being embarrassed impertinent Victor who is sitting quietly hoping Thomas will stop. Victor eventually chimes in at the end but it is Thomass outspokenness that started the conversation. In this scene not only does the author show that Thomas is different but that the gymnast is unusual as well. In This Is What It Means to rank Phoenix, Arizona character is shown by She was busy twisting her body into pretzels. She was flexible (Alexie 173). Most people on an airplane would find it a bit uncomfortable to be sitting next to someone contorting their bodyOnce Thomas and Victor had reclaimed Victors dads ashes they drove to the bank and retrieved the three hundred-dollars from his fathers account. turn on the road back to there hometown Spokane Victor recounts the story of when Thomas flew. In This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona perspective is shown when Once, he jumped off the roof of the tribal school and flapped his ramp ups like a crazy eagle. And he flew. For a second he hovered, suspended above all the other Indian boys, who were too smart or to scared to jump too (Alexie 175). Thomas fell and broke his arm in two places, but Thomas did what no other boy would do, even though they all wished too. This is not something many people would do but the author uses this to show that Thomas is not swayed by other peoples opinions.While the boys drive through Nevada the landscape is described. In This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona casteting is shown when Thomas and Victor had been amazed at the lack of animal life, at the absence of water, of movement (Alexie 176). The setting of Nevada is desolate and baron of life. There are rarely any animals that are seen during the day. Since Nevada is on e big desert most of the animals are nocturnal they come out after the sun has set and the oppressive heat has resided. The symbol of the Nevada desert is employ to describe the feeling of being alone. The setting is used to show the feeling of being alone and how both boys are experiencing it.Alexia succeeds in portraying a message about not conforming to social norms in her short story This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. Through out the story Thomas shows that he is different and that he isnt passage to change for anybody. Thomas despite being faced with many hardships, judgments, torments and even being beat up never faltered in his beliefs. Being different and not conforming the social norms is not an easy thing for people to do and this is what Alexia was trying to portray.