Connections Between Alexie's Novel and Film

              After watching the movie Smoke Signals and reading the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I realized many connections and similarities. Part of the reason for these similar traits in each title is their association with Sherman Alexie. His novel was autobiographical and some of the same events I saw in Smoke Signals. There are obvious traits in both that represent the stereotypical Indian lifestyle such as alcoholism and poverty, and then there are traits that represent Alexie’s life. For example, the fire that killed his family (or sister in the novel), his relationship with Victor (Rowdy in the novel), strong relationship with his Grandma, ability to story tell, and his overall appearance in both pieces seem similar. Both the novel and the movie also address what it means to be a “real” Indian. In Smoke Signals, Victor criticizes Thomas’s appearance by mentioning he was not a real Native. Thomas then lets his hair out of his braids and took off his vest to look more intimidating otherwise the whites, as Victor said, “will walk all over him”. The same idea can be seen in the Alexie’s novel when the other Indians on the reservation call him an “apple”, being red on the outside and white on the inside. There seems to be this consistent battle between Indians and whites that isn’t seen with the eye but seems to be buried deep in their conscience. There seems to be metaphorical rope that western society has that keeps pulling Indians farther and farther away from their culture.

                The concept of storytelling is an important aspect in Smoke Signals. The way that Thomas is always going on and on about stories that Victor really has no interest in, brings out Victor’s anger and sadness. There is an underlying issue that Victor didn’t reveal to Thomas until later in the film, but the issue and reason for all his anger was the disappearance of his father. He was always telling Thomas that he would come back, but Thomas knew the real reason he left and why he wasn’t going to come back. Victor’s father’s responsibility for Thomas’s parents’ death left him to be a useless alcoholic that couldn’t deal with his emotions properly. I think the reason Thomas was always telling stories about Victor’s father was because most of them portrayed him as a loveable and kind guy. Victor’s father’s relationship with Thomas was always a loving kind because they both knew who was responsible for Thomas’s parents’ death. At the end of the film, the burning of Victor’s father’s trailer represented respect and was a pled for forgiveness from Thomas’s parents.