On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City by Sherman Alexie - Essay Example

?ON THE AMTRAK FROM BOSTON TO NEW YORK BY SHERMAN ALEXIE On the Amtrak from Boston to New York is an emotionally provocative poem by the Native American Indian writer, Sherman Alexie. It describes a train journey from Boston to New York City in which an elderly white woman excitedly points out historical sites to her fellow passenger, a younger Native American Indian. The poem demonstrates how narrow minded the American Indian finds the white American culture; for, it does not go beyond any history prior to their coming to America. The white woman is only able to have a limited understanding of her surroundings; however, the Indian’s perspective is far greater and is able to incorporate over 1500 years of history into his thinking. The poem has a tone of bitterness to it, as we follow the Indian’s thoughts of what he thinks of the white woman’s site seeing antics and how clueless he finds the white American people as a whole. This bitterness lends an undercurrent of sadness to the poem; for, it also displays how the White Americans and Indians seem to live past one another. The poet invokes various forms of imagery and symbolism in order to demonstrate the stark reality of the poem to the reader. The poem is written in blank verse. This means that there is no set rhyme scheme or metre to the poem. The poem is divided into nine stanzas off four lines each and it concludes with one single line stanza. The first nine stanzas with their four lines each, demonstrate the narrow mindedness of the white woman and the thinking of her fellow white Americans; while, the final one line stanza is an attempt by the poet to show that the Native American Indians are both separate and have a broader scope than the white Americans. Yet, the use of the blank verse form by the poet, suggests that there is room for imaginative speculation on the poem. The poet uses certain imagery in the poem for instance the sites that the white woman points out to the Indian, “that house on the hill there is over two hundred years old” in stanza one and “Walden Pond,” in stanza three. These immediate images provoke other images in the Indian’s mind; these images are far more spectacular than those immediate images pointed out by the white woman. The two hundred year old house on the hill is linked to in the Indian’s mind to the structures of his tribal ancestors which he describes in stanza three as “whose architecture is 15,000 years older”. The mention of “Walden Pond” in stanza three by the white woman is linked in the Indian’s mind to “there are five Walden Ponds on my little reservation out West and at least a hundred more surrounding Spokane,” in stanza four. These larger images once again demonstrate the incapability of the white Americans to look deeper into other cultures and their sites surrounding them. The only reason the white woman recognizes Walden Pond is because it was made famous by a white American, Henry David Thoreau who wrote a book about his life in a house next to the pond, in which he takes on a simplistic life which mimics the Native American Indian life style. The Indian on the train, is unimpressed by this because he states that “I know the Indians were living stories around that pond before Walden's grandparents were born and before his grandparents' grandparents were born.”These lines display a certain amount of disdain by the Indian for what the white Americans believe to be historically important it also shows the Indian’s disillusion; for, he seems to realise that his culture and history was never and probably never will be properly recognized and understood by other Americans. In stanza six and seven, the Indian continues to ruminate on Walden Pond and he is angered and embittered when thinking about Don Henly, the lead singer of The Eagles. Because, Don Henley was campaigning for Walden Pond not to be exploited and for the surrounding area to be preserved. The Indian states vehemently that “If Don Henley's brothers and sisters and mothers and father hadn't come here in the first place then nothing would need to be saved.” This outburst by the Indian shows how the Indians saw the coming of the white people to America, they believe that they destroy the land and its natural beauty through their drive to construct and make business opportunities out of everything. This leads the reader to imagine what the land must have been before the coming of the white people. Although, the Indian is angered and embittered by what he is thinking he remains curious and calm on the outside. He says that, ”I respect elders of every color”, once again displaying his cultural heritage. The reader also gets the feel that the Indian is subtly pointing to the white American people who do not have such a strenuous belief system in place and whose youth often acts disrespectfully towards their elders. The Indian brings the white woman “an orange juice”; while, drinking a diet Pepsi himself. The orange juice is a symbolism which indicates that the Native American Indians have provided the white Americans with a way to preserve and look after the natural surroundings through their living habits. While, the diet Pepsi drunk by the Indian is a symbol that shows that all the Native American Indians were given in return by the white people was an industrialized country that took away all their natural habitats, forcing them to live in reserves and conform to the white people’s way of living. The final line of the poem comes as a bit of a shock to the reader; for, it sets the Indians apart from the white Americans with such an air of finality, that it is hard to see how the two cultures can ever be reconciled. The Indian refers to the white Americans as “the enemy”, which suggests that some war is being fought. However, this war is not an open conflict; it is hardly noticed by the white American people such as the white woman. She treats the Indian as she would anyone else. But, the Indian sees himself apart from the white Americans because of their cultural differences and the white Americans incapability to understand the damage that they have inflicted upon the Native American Indian people and their surroundings. The war that is being fought is a non-violent war in which, the Native American Indians attempt to separate themselves from the white American and try not to be sucked into their culture. In conclusion, it can be seen how important it is for the reader to possess imagination when reading this poem. For, the actual train trip is a mere background for the train trip that is taking place through the Indian’s thoughts, and feelings. The immediate images pointed out by the white woman on the train and her excited prattling is a mere facade for what lies imbedded deeper in the poem as discovered through the Indian’s thoughts and actions. Sherman Alexie has created an emotional poem which takes the reader on a trip which reveals much about how ignorance and the unwillingness to respect other beliefs and history can lead to an invisible divide which can never truly be breached. Read More