The Smoke Signals Forgiveness Essay - 1461 Words

The Smoke Signals Forgiveness Smoke Signals, written by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre, begins on July 4, 1976 on the Coeur d’ Alene Reservation. Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), drunk while celebrating the independence, lit off a firework and set the Builds-the-Fire residence on fire, killing the parents of Thomas Builds-the Fire. Many people were already asleep in the house when the fire started, so no one saw Arnold’s mistake, which he kept a secret from the whole reservation. Both Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) and Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), Arnold’s son, were saved from the burning house. Arnold ran to catch Thomas in his arms after Thomas was thrown from a window. Victor and Thomas grew up together. After the†¦show more content†¦One day, Arlene received a call from Arnold’s neighbor in Phoenix, Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), saying that Arnold had died and that someone should probably come down to Phoenix to take care of the death. This meant that Victor had to take a bus to Phoenix to get Arnold’s possessions and drive his truck back to the reservation. There was just one problem, Victor didn’t have the money for a bus pass, but Thomas did. The catch was, if Thomas gave Victor some money to go to Phoenix, Thomas got to come along too. Victor had no other choice but to accept the offer. And the journey begins. Victor and Thomas had never been off the reservation before. They experienced what it’s really like to be a Native American in the real world. On the bus ride there, two white men took their seats and made rude comments about them being Native Americans. They received a lot of stares and uncomfortable looks from people as well. The bus ride to Phoenix was hard for Victor because he had to deal with Thomas talking the whole time. Victor especially didn’t like it when Thomas brought up his father in conversation. In Phoenix, Thomas and Victor walked many miles through the desert to get to Arnold’s old trailer. Suzy Song lived in a trailer there as well. They met Suzy right away, and she was very helpful. She and Thomas told stories to eachShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Chris Eyres Smoke Signals1190 Words   |  5 Pages Smoke Signals is an award-winning movie directed by Chris Eyre, written and co-directed by Native American poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker Sherman Alexie and based on the book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The film reveals the reality of modern Native American life on an Indian reservation using Native American oral tradition storytelling to present insightful interpretation how different and indirect the path to forgiveness works within the movie. Alexie suggests that theRead MoreSmoke Signals By Sherman Alexie1051 Words   |  5 PagesIn Sherman Alexie’s film, Smoke Signals, Alexie uses different story telling devices to show the importanc e of forgiveness. Smoke signals provides a new perspective of Native American culture by submerging us into the lives of two Native American boys, Thomas and Victor. The movie begins with a fire on the Fourth of July on the Coer d’Alene reservation in Idaho, Victor’s father Arnold saves Thomas as an infant by throwing him out a window. The movie jumps ten years forward and Victor receives wordRead MoreThe Smoke Signals By Chris Eyre1301 Words   |  6 PagesSmoke Signals, released in 1998, is a classic film that provides insight to the lives of Native Americans living on reservations. There are very few films that attempt to portray Native Americans at all, yet alone in a respectful manner. The characters are all played by genuine Native American actors including: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, and Tantoo Cardinal. Additionally, it is directed by Chris Eyre, another Native American. 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Alexie uses many different styles of cinematic techniques to tell his story of family, friendship, and the discovery of ones self in this film. Every character has a story to tell and each hold a piece of the story which unfolds as the charectersRead MoreSmoke Signals Elements Of Symbols790 Words   |  4 PagesClayton J. Walp Mr. Morill American Lit. and Comp. 25 September 2017 Smoke Signals: Elements of Representation Natural elements will often be viewed as symbols to represent a cycle of life changing experiences that will ultimately change the character forever on a deeper, spiritual level than what scratches the surface. Going through life, major events that change that person’s sense of direction and demeanor, for better or for worse, can be visualized as an element. Anger, sadness, loss of hopeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Flight 1441 Words   |  6 Pagesholds many lessons and it reminds me a great deal of â€Å"Smoke Signals†. In both stories the main character struggles with their relationship and hatred for their father. Both fathers are drunkards and both fathers realize what kind of damage they are capable of doing and are afraid of the power so they run away. Just like in â€Å"Smoke Signals† the main character learns more about their fathers and begins to relate and somewhat forgive but forgiveness is difficult and even painful and you can’t always forge tRead MoreThe Powwow At The End Of The World By Sherman Alexie893 Words   |  4 Pageswhen I decided there were too many to choose from, I looked at cute love poems, but then I felt that was too childish for me. Somehow during the long and treacherous poem search, I came across Sherman Alexie hoping he had a poem about the movie Smoke Signals. I did not find one about the movie, but I did find something that had hit home with me, â€Å"The Powwow at the End of the World.† After reading the poem several times, I figured that I did not need to do much brainstorming for the essay because theRead MoreLooking For Alaska By John Green991 Words   |  4 Pageswritten in two parts, before and after. Before, Miles fits in perfect at Culver Creek where he meets his first true friends, Chip â€Å"The Colonel† Martin and Alaska Young. His friends help him adjust to life at the boarding school by teaching him to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and pull pranks with the best of them. Miles begins to fall helplessly in love with Alaska, but she continuously reminds him that she has a boyfriend. She constantly flirts with Miles, but refuses to let it go further thanRead MoreThe Death Penalty And Capital Punishment3365 Words   |  14 PagesNonetheless, by carrying out a death sentence, you force another family to suffer. The death penalty doesn t change the fact that the victim is gone and will never come back. Hate, revenge, and anger will never cure the emptiness of a lost loved one. Forgiveness is the only way to start the healing process. This won t happen in a revenge focused individual. 4. Most people believe our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does victims. Placing the importance of our criminal justice