War Dances - Interrelationship between Perception, Social Interaction, Identity, and Human Nature - Book Report/Review Example

WAR DANCES BY SHERMAN ALEXIE THESIS STATEMENT: This paper undertakes a critical analysis of War Dances by Sherman Alexie and argues that the collection of poems and short stories present a microcosm of the interrelationship between perception, social interaction, identity and human nature. WAR DANCES: ANALYSIS War Dances by Sherman Alexie is a collection of short stories and poems that chart the complex dynamics of familial and romantic relationships against the backdrop of a contemporary Native American narrative. The focus of this paper is to critically evaluate the central themes in War Dances and highlight the central proposition of this paper that Alexie’s book utilises the interrelationship between concepts of identity and complex relationship conflict as a microcosm for human nature. This is further reinforced by the juxtaposition between familial relationship interactions and interactions with strangers as represented by Alexie. Furthermore, it is submitted at the outset that the racial background of the characters and the socio-political backdrop of the stories and poems is imperative to the understanding of the tense relationships between central protagonists throughout the collection. Through the contrasting use of poems and prose, War Dances underlines ethical and moral issues in the conflict in everyday life, beginning with strangers and then gradually delving into deeper relationships with family and friends. For example, in “The Limited”, the central protagonist has an altercation with someone who attempts to attack a stray dog, who then abandons the scene with no remorse. The observation that “I don’t know what happened to the man or the dog…. But I drove home and wrote this poem” highlights the juxtaposition of our simultaneous connection and isolation from people. The encounter with the stranger highlights human instincts and needs to interact and demonstrates the impact of interaction with others on human nature. To this end, War Dances continues to develop this through the uncomfortable issue of race and identity in “Breaking and Entering”, which describes confrontation with a burglar in the home. The use of continuous questions through the first narrative and the palpable angst of the narrator in dealing with his attitude to exploitation and race, serves to involve the reader directly into the narrative. This in turn makes forces the reader to ask the same questions as the narrator and address the same awkward questions regarding race and identity. Furthermore, in bringing these taboo issues into the open, Breaking and Entering highlights the intrinsic complexity of how our perceptions impact interaction with others and how race and assumptions about identity influence social perception. For example, in Breaking and Entering reference is made to Elder’s mother Althea commenting that “he’s just another black man killed by a white man. And none of this white men care”. The irony of this statement is highlighted by when George Wilson highlights that: “It was a powerful piece of editing. It made me look pale and guilty. But all of them- Althea, the other protestors, the reporters, producers and editors- were unaware of one crucial piece of information: I am not a white man”. Through George’s narrative, Breaking and Entering underlines ethical and moral issues in the conflict between our perceptions and attitudes towards race, identity and how it informs our own human development and our interaction with others. For example, George comments that whilst he is not a “traditional Indian”, “one could easily mock my lack of cultural connection, but one could not question my race”. Arguably, Alexie uses Elder’s death and George’s response to the ensuing race debate to underline the point that cultural identity is not defined by material possession or appearance, but rather one’s mental attitude. Therefore the editing of George to make him look like “the white man who owned a baseball bat”, Althea’s rants about George’s “whiteness” and George’s hurt feelings at his identity being misrepresented highlights racial divide in human interaction against a complex cultural backdrop in America. As War Dances evolves, Alexie presents relationships on a deeper level in order to highlight generational conflict and the complex nature of friendships. For example, in the Senator’s Son, Alexie highlights the role of sexuality in human interaction and perception. The Senator’s Son is preceded with the ironic poem “Ode Sweethearts” where the two male friends’ acceptance and understanding of waiting for a girl is contrasted with the conflict between once best friends Jeremy and William over Jeremy’s sexuality. When Jeremy comes out of the closet, William refuses to accept this and assaults him. Alexie continues to explore human nature through familial relationships in “Catechism”, which provides an insight into his own family. Alexie cleverly employs the use of questions and answers to unveil the relationship between his mother and his father. Again, the use of the questions creates a sense of immediacy with the reader and we learn that his mother was Protestant and a Spokane Native American and his father is Catholic and a Coeur D’Alene. The contrasting faiths and discussion of conversion of tribes in Idaho to Catholicism not only highlights the role of religion in developing identity, but Alexie arguably uses the conversion of tribes to also question the existence of God. Furthermore, it is submitted that in referring to the faiths of his parents in Catechism, leads to an arguable oxymoron with his mother being a Protestant Spokane Native American Indian. The practice of the Christian faith by both parents in different forms of Christianity indirectly references the history of Native American displacement and highlights the complexity of Native American identity in a contemporary hegemonic society. Indeed, the Native American identity and consciousness is prevalent throughout and in “War Dances” the possibility of a brain tumour and waiting for medical results enables him to reflect on his relationship with his father. Alexie’s contrasting perceptions of himself and his father underlines the influence of Native American consciousness on Alexie’s identity and how it defines him. For example, on the one hand he refers to his father as “the drunk bastard”. And when he receives the medical all clear, he poignantly reflects that: “I wanted to call my father and tell him that a white man thought my brain was beautiful. But I couldn’t tell him anything. He was dead. I told me wife and sons that I was ok…. But none of them laughed as hard about my beautiful brain as I knew my father- the drunk bastard would have”. This trajectory of heartbreak and happiness throughout the collection symbolises the complex dynamic of Native American identity in wider American society. However, in addition to the Native American perspective, War Dances utilises multiple viewpoints to highlight the interrelationship of complex factors that influence our interaction with the world around us and our perception. In turn, this further supports the central proposition of this paper that War Dances operates as a microcosm of the correlation between perception, interaction and identity on human nature and development. REFERENCE Alexie, Sherman. War Dances. Grove Press: 2009 Read More