Summary
Many of Alexie’s critics claim that his application of humor entertains Indian stereotypes, suggesting that he neglects his responsibility to shed his people in a positive, genuine light. Coulombe counters such evaluations by arguing that, through humor, Alexie is able to surface factors of oppression, remediate pain, and fuse mentalities from culture to culture. Very significantly, such objectives are met as the role of humor alternates throughout his work. It is noted that this constant shift induces a character-reader interaction, where “contrary powers” are evident in Alexie’s widely identifiable characters. However, even though such “cross-cultural humor” can connect the minds of various backgrounds, it can, likewise, create distance between them. Coulombe draws a parallel between Alexie’s humor and that of his heritage, as the shifting role of humor is a traditional feature in Indian laughter. Alexie’s humor is thought to be iconic of the mythical Indian character, Trickster, whose wit was known to bring the community together. However, Alexie promotes a shared understanding and respect among diverse groups by facilitating an open area where he invites all to reconsider outdated clichés; with this, he reflects on the past, responds to the present, and writes the future. Coulombe mentions some critics’ struggle to identify Alexie’s aim in his satire, and asserts that the reader is required to approach such instances with analysis--because the usual “moral-of-the-story” is not necessarily made explicit in Alexie text. When approaching poignant realities with laughter, Alexie encourages the reader to assess the conditions which permit such sad and sardonic humor, perhaps suggesting that today’s reality is warped and in dire need of repair. In its many contexts, Alexie demonstrates how the individual uses humor as a defense mechanism for reality, a tool of denial, of personal withdrawal, but also an instrument of personal strength. Most importantly, because humor exists in all cultures, it stands as the “great unifier,” the ultimate purpose for Alexie’s jokes.
Application
Coulombe noted how Alexie’s characters use humor as a personal escape from reality. Throughout much of his essay, he used the tale of Jimmy as a salient example. Forced to accept the reality of his cancer, Jimmy would constantly ridicule himself as a way not to. A similar instance can be found in Alexie’s short story, “Amusements;” here, two Indians, Victor and Sadie, sit their drunken Indian peer, known as Dirty Joe, on a rollercoaster for their mere entertainment, as well as for the amusement of the whites. As the whites mocked the drunken Indian, Victor supposed that he was equally the butt of their jokes and dreaded to personally facilitate the stereotype: “I was afraid of all of them, wanted to hide behind my Indian teeth, the quick joke.” (Alexie 55) And, as an impulsive cover-up, he joined in the whites’ laughter: “’Shit,’ I said. ‘We should be charging admission for this show.’”(Alexie 55) Humor, in this case, is utilized to deny identity. Victor is so humiliated to be associated with a drunken Indian that he attempts to deny himself as an Indian. With a plan to hastily leave their friend to fend for himself on the rollercoaster, Victor states, “We walked fast and did our best to be anything but Indian.”(Alexie 56) Victor’s account in this narrative does not only exemplify humor as an instrument of denial; also apparent is Coulombe’s point that humor can sometimes create distance between people, instead of bonding them, even people within the same group. And, it is evident that Victor joked to distance himself from his own cultural group.
Coloumbe also touched on Alexie’s use of humor as a means to expose saddening truths. Quite often, Alexie precedes a candid Indian heartache with his own entertaining wit. As Coulombe states, “he uses humor to draw readers in and entertain them; once he has them, he communicates his world view, one that does not necessarily reflect the comforting, traditional American ideals of equal opportunity and democratic justice for all.”(Coulombe 108) “A Drug Called Tradition” well illustrates this tactic, as the reader is offered Victor’s firsthand comical, yet grave, experience tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. As the drug is often rumored to induce spiritual effects, Victor incorporates his own Indian ethnicity when inviting peer Thomas Builds-the-fire to join: “It’ll be very fucking Indian. Spiritual shit, you know?”(Alexie 14) Although Victor’s description of his trip humorously begins with a conversation he shares with a talking horse named Flight, he eventually encounters some painful thoughts in their concrete form: “They’re all gone, my tribe is gone. Those blankets they gave us, infected with smallpox, have killed us. I’m the last, the very last, and I’m sick too.”(Alexie 17) He is convinced of his own infection of smallpox until he conducts a Ghost Dance to bring back the deceased members of his tribe; and, as his “blisters heal” and “muscles stretch, expand,” a bit of his contempt for the colonizer’s is revealed: “The buffalo come to join us and their hooves shake the earth, knock all the white people from their beds, send their plates crashing to the floor.”(17) His vision of the whites ended with him and his tribe dancing on the shore as “all the white hands waved good-bye” and returned to Europe. What was originally introduced as an amusing bit about kids and their hallucinogens exposed a mass notion, or grudge rather, of the Indian nation. This story shows how Alexie can use laughter to explain his people’s anguish, but it also demonstrates how Alexie assigns fault, as Coulombe says, “Whereas Alexie often uses humor to reveal social injustice and immorality, he does not simply blame Indians. White America is the root cause of Indian problems.”(Coloumbe 105)
Works Cited:
Alexie, Sherman. “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven.”Grove Press. New York: 2005
Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor:Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (Winter 2002): 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.
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