Tanto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven Blog #3

The chapter I just read in this book was by far my favorite so far. It really made me think. It was about how imagination is so essential to life. The whole chapter continuously alludes to 7-11 which I found a very interesting subject to reference while speaking about imagination. The narrator refers to his imaginary 7-11 as the "7-11 of his dreams where is is surrounded by five hundred years of lies." The way he connects the repression of native americans to a 7-11 is very clever.
The chapter begins with a series of scenarios in native american history where the outcomes were different. The first is, " Imagine Crazy Horse invented the atom bomb in 1876 and detonated it over Washington D.C. Would urban indians still be sprawled around the one-room apartment in the cable television reservation?" It really makes the reader think about how an event so long ago can shape the present and future. The scenarios are strange and slightly humorous to think about, but they are very powerful statements. Alexie is very good at wording things in a sarcastic way, but still maintaining the full force of his powerful statements. He doesn't sound angry when he writes, but he really makes the reader put things in perspective. Almost every chapter in this book has left me with some question or theme to think about. He ends things in a very open ended manner.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven #2

As I have gotten further into this book it is apparent that the narrator has aged and matured. Although each chapter is a completely new story there is and apparent pattern that gives the reader a sense of moving time. His problems have gotten more intense. In the section I am currently reading he is almost constantly drinking. Almost every story starts the same. He is either alone at a bar or with a friend drunk and then some event happens. I don't know if he repeated this pattern on purpose, but it develops his series of stories into more than just a random compilation of stories. It gives the reader a sense of the direction his life is moving in. Obviously, right now in the story, Alexie is at a very low point in  life. He spends his nights getting drunk and picking up women he doesn't truly care about at all. One very interesting event that just happened in the story is Alexie has just taken an orphan into his care. A friend of his and Alexie went to a burning house after a night of drinking and attempted to save the family who's house was burning. Only their baby survived. Alexie took the child to the hospital and was given the duty of it's caretaker because he was the one that saved the child. It is interesting that in native american culture it is so simple to be put in charge of a child. The child's name is James and he does not speak. It creates a very interesting relationship with Alexie because although they spend most of their time together they never talk.