Analysis Using Narratological Terms
Introduction
What You Pawn I Will Redeem is creative literature narrated by an American Spokane Indian called Jackson Jackson who was born in Spokane and has been homeless for the last 6years. Jackson narrates how he came to Seattle, fathered a few children, and left a few women broken-hearted. He views himself from a positive perspective despite the fact that he has failed in most of his endeavors (Alexie, 2003, p.169). He explains that he is an effective homeless person who gets along with most people, makes friends easily, and finds stores that allow him to use the employee bathrooms. In the discussion of this narrative, this task will employ narratological analysis to explain Sherman Alexis’s book, What You Pawn I Will Redeem.
Character Analysis
Sherman Alexis has employed a few characters in this short story among them being:
- Jackson Jackson – Jackson is a Spokane Indian boy who led a normal life until he became insane. He describes himself as “crazy” and is often described by other people as a generous, funny, and happy man.
- Rose of Sharon – Jackson describes Rose of Sharon as a big woman who is five feet tall and approximately seven feet tall in the overall effect (Alexie, 2003, p.171).
- Junior – He is a good-looking man with big cheekbones.
- Pawnshop owner – The pawnshop owner is a generous and helpful individual who helps Jackson with 20 bucks to facilitate the search for the required nine hundred dollars. He later gives Jackson her grandmother regalia for free.
- Jackson’s grandmother, Agnes – Jackson describes his grandmother as a funny and engaging character who was a nurse and helped many Indian soldiers who were victims of war.
- Kay – A young girl that Jackson is in love with, also works at the register in the Korean grocery store.
- Officer Williams – Generous man who helps Jackson out from the railroad (Alexie, 2003, p.189)
- Big Boss at Real Change – A man who is willing to assist Jackson make enough money to buy back the regalia. He also gives Jackson fifty newspapers for free.
- Three Aleut cousins – They are excited to see Jackson. He spends his lottery in the bar with Irene and a group of Indians
Jackson Jackson, who is the protagonist is mostly motivated by the love for his grandmother. He has a dream to recover her regalia after finding it at the pawnshop, in a bid to regain cultural and individual identity.
Narration and Point of View
What You Pawn, I Will Redeem has adopted thethe first-person point of view with Jackson as the narrator. In his explanation, Alexis has managed to evoke external events while taking the reader inside different personalities such as Jackson or the Pawnshop owner in a manner that evokes feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and physical experiences. In other words, Alexis has provided a wide spectrum in a manner that controls how deep the narrative takes control of the reader. For instance, the narrator begins by giving the reader a superficial explanation of himself in a rather objective manner. The statement, “one day you have a home the next you do not” (Alexie, 2003, p.169) provides information about the happenings in a manner that evokes direct experience. In the next line, the reader is brought closer to the narrator when he states, “but I’m not going to tell you any particular reason for being homeless because it’s my secret story” (Alexie, 2003, p.169). At this, the reader starts to feel familiar with Jackson by getting to get a glimpse of his personality and his perspective towards the white man. We understand that he is homeless and secretive individual with reservations about the white man. In the next few lines, the narrator describes himself as a Spokane Indian boy drawing us into his life such that the reader begins to visualize the personality especially due to the fact that the narrator has adopted a first-person point of view (Alexie, 2003, p.169). The explanation of his experiences in Seattle, using public bathrooms, fathering a few children, and breaking a few hearts causes the reader to visualize the likelihood of the inherent craziness that Jackson describes. Although we get to know his name after his encounter with the pawnshop owner, the reader has already managed to visualize the narrator’s looks and intelligence while accessing them from a deep perspective.
Another narrative technique inherent in this piece is the use of humor and the adoption of multiple points of view that are objective and tend to change continuously. For instance, the reader is able to view Rose of Sharon as a big woman who is probably five feet from a physical perspective and seven feet from an overall effect. He also provides different perspectives about himself as a crazy, intelligent, drunkard, and generous individual. The ironic humor is a unique writing technique that keeps the readers engaged while providing an intellectual and emotional ground to consider the use of reductive expectations and stereotypes. For instance, he states, “I sat up and looked around. I was lying on the railroad tracks. Dockworkers stared at me. I should have been a railroad-track pizza, a double Indian pepperoni with extra cheese. Sick and scared, I leaned over and puked whiskey” (Alexie, 2003, p.186). His description of his grandmother with the Indian soldier and the fact that he is actively working to retrieve a regalia that was stolen 50 years ago has employed humorous narrative technique.
Stream of Consciousness
Alexis use of humor is considered a coping mechanisms for the Indians which is coupled with the approach of stream-of-consciousness narrative. The technique of stream of consciousness enables the reader to enter the character’s thoughts while replicating their thinking process such as to understand their world more clearly. Through this technique, Alexis has managed to present a rather truthful experience of Jackson’s conditions in a manner that would be difficult to understand without introducing this narrative.
“With two dollars and fifty cents in my hand, I sat beside Junior and thought about my grandmother and her stories. When I was thirteen, my grandmother told me a story about the Second World War. She was a nurse at a military hospital in Sydney, Australia. For two years, she healed and comforted American and Australian soldiers. One day, she tended to a wounded Maori soldier, who had lost his legs to an artillery attack. He was very dark-skinned. His hair was black and curly and his eyes were black and warm. His face was covered with bright tattoos.” (Alexie, 2003, p.178).
In this section, Alexis allows the reader to provide a more intimate portrayal of Agnes and the Indian soldier in a manner that is deeper than physical descriptions. Through the stream-of-consciousness narrative, the reader manages to track Jackson’s thoughts at 13 years when his grandmother shared the story with him. This aspect enables the reader to understand what the characters in the set do and the reasons behind their actions.
Themes Narrative
Homelessness
In the beginning, Alexis highlights the theme of homelessness from an individual and cultural perspective. The first statement, “One day you have a home and the next you don’t” (Alexie, 2003, p.169) to showcase Jackson’s situation of homelessness which creates the need to live in the streets and the culture aspect of homelessness as a Spokane Indian. At this, Alexis attempts to show the situation of the Spokane Indians and relationship with historical aspects of forced removal, dispossession, and lost lands. This status of homelessness also showcases Jackson’s mental status – that he calls “crazy” – cultural, and psychological status. Alexis struggle to reclaim the lost powwow regalia has a parallelism with the historical dispossession of the Spokane Indian approximately 50 years ago. He explains that his people are everywhere in Seattle – they are boring and common, and it is possible to walk past them although they often possess a look of despair most of the time. After reclaiming the regalia, Jackson is excited by the fact that he has regained his personal and cultural significance by reuniting with his grandmother, which represents the parallelism with his culture. After taking possession of the regalia, Jackson became noticeable and everything on his way stopped. He felt that his dance with his grandmother was a moment that could not be ignored in that it was his instant of triumph. “Pedestrians stopped. Cars stopped. The city stopped. They all watched me dance with my grandmother” (Alexie, 2003, p.194). He was no longer homeless individually and culturally as he has found comfort and belonging in the grandmother’s regalia.
Individual identity
Jackson has identified himself as a homeless, middle aged, Spokane Indian man. He discusses how he became homeless and his past life in relation to the people he has heartbroken and the children he has fathered. Understanding that his identity is incomplete, he strives to redeem his grandmother’s regalia, an aspect that would bring individual and cultural fulfillment. He explains his experiences as Spokane Indian and the fact that there are many people like him in Seattle who walk unnoticed. The past experiences, most of which have caused his mental illness are part of his life and that of Native Americans. He is stereotypical and explains himself from a cultural perspective stating the strengths and weakness of the Indians rather than himself alone. He says, “we Indians are great story tellers (Alexie, 2003, p.183)” an aspect that the officer Williams observes stating that Indians have a unique sense of humor.
Plot
What you Pawn, I will Redeem has been facilitated by the concept of foreshadowing. Homelessness that is showcased in the first statement appears as a form of disillusionment, in that the narrator lacks any other survival tactics. The fact that Jackson has been homeless for six years shows the extent of loss of culture and identity amongst the Indians (Alexie, 2003, p.169). The loss of his grandmother’s regalia foreshadows the loss of identity, an aspect that he aims to regain through its acquisition. Throughout the story, Alexis adopted a plot that showed the effects of homelessness and loss of identity from an individual and cultural perspective.
Conclusion
What you pawn, I will redeem by Sherman Alexis is an interpretive story that has showcased the problems evidenced by Indians from an individual and cultural perspective. This story has showcased an array of characters who are circled around the protagonist. The story has adopted first person narrative and a stream-of-consciousness narrative that has enabled the reader to understand the narrator’s feelings and emotions from a deeper perspective. Alexis highlighted the themes of identity, homelessness, stereotyping, and cultural loss. The story ends in a happily as Jackson regains the lost regalia, which serves as a win at an individual and cultural level.
References
Alexie, S. (2003). What you pawn I Will redeem. New Yorker-New Yorker Magazine Incorporated, 168-177.