The Lessons and Chooses Victor Made Essay

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The Lessons and Chooses Victor Made

In this short story, “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, the native character of the story is a young man named “Victor” who stated life off on a native reservation. “Victor” is a smart young man; he had to learn at a very young age how native people are subjects of stereotyping and “persecution”, “by outsiders that come to the reservations”. “Victor’s” lessons also consisted of the ignorance’s of his own people; he had to learn these lessons of life the hard way due to living on the reservation. “Victor” had to make choices though out his life, if he ever wanted to become something in the future. “Victor” learned that many natives who lived on the reservations gave into self-pity females and males alike. The self-pity leads up not only to high alcoholism and drug use amongst the male population on the reservation; the tribe of both genders also gives-up on traditional native cultures on the reservation. Other native children on the reservation bullied “Victor”, because he “looked” and was intellectually “different from the rest of the native children” (Alexie 348). “Victor” gets very tired of this when one- native child comes alone to bully him, so he finds the “warrior” inside of him. “The little warrior in me roared to life and I knocked Frenchy to the ground, held his head against the snow, and punched him so hard that my knuckles and the snow make symmetrical bruises on his face. He almost looked like he was wearing war paint (Alexie348)”. “Victor” felt great that he had just become a “warrior”; what he did not know at that point, was that it was wrong to beat another child to that point. “Victor” was not a “warrior” at all he was just an innocent child. “Victor” had to make a choice to be a “warrior”, or have other children beat him up. This was the first of many lessons that “Victor” learned due to the forced choices he had to make, because of life on the “reservation”. (Alexia 348)
His second grade teacher was a “missionary” and treated “Junior Polatkin” very cruel (Alexie pg. 348). The teacher stereotyped “Junior Polatkin” and punished him frequently. The teacher felt “Junior Polatkin” was being “disrespectful”, because he was able to “spell all words designed for a middle school aged child” (Alexie pg. 348). The Teacher sent a “note,” Home to “Junior Polatkin” parents, “telling them to cut his braids off or don’t send him back to school (Alexie pg. 348)”. In the native culture, the hair in braids is very symbolic; the teacher was using this punishment as a form to desecrate the little native culture they had. “My parents came in the next day and dragged their braids across Betty Towle’s desk. “Indians, Indians, Indians.” She said it without capitalization. She called me “indian, indian, indian.” In addition, yes, I am, I am Indian. Indian, I am (Alexie pg. 348)” “Junior Polatkin” felt angry over the fact that his teacher was being sarcastic in a stereotypical way with the use of his ethnicity Indian (Alexie pg. 348-349). “Junior Polatkin” was recognizing that natives were not accepted (Alexie pg. 349).
“Junior Polatkin” reached the "third grade" in art class made a picture of a "stick figure Indian pissing in the backyard" he was proud of his art work, but the teacher did not find it appropriate (Alexie pg. 348-349). “Junior Polatkin” was punished by his teacher "Censorship, I might cry now. “Freedom of expression, I would write in editorials to the tribal newspaper (Alexie Pg. 348-349)". “Junior Polatkin”
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