First Nations Study 304
Themes in “The Lone Ranger and Tonto “
Diana Schmidt

“The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” is set on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washing state, is a collection of loosely related stories featuring a recurring cast of characters and each story has some relationship to alcoholism, racism, cultural identity, and traditions of the tribe, and living conditions on the reservation. The one thing that I got from Alexie Sherman’s book is that the Native American are resilient and have an inner strength to survive. In the very first story in the book we see Victor trying to sleep between his intoxicated parents after a New Year’s Eve party that his uncles, Arnold and Adolph, fist fight first in the house then outside in the yard. This would seem as a common occurrence in this young boy’s life. In another story, “Amusements”: Victor and Sadie put a passed-out Indian on a roller coaster and laugh at the spectacle until the crowd disapproves. These are scenes that many young Native Americans face on a regular basis. Sherman uses this to add to the character of the people in the stories. They do cruel and dangerous thing under the influence of alcohol that affect all their lives. Another issue that the Native American Indian has to face in these stories is cultural identity. They are caught between two worlds, the Indian way and the “white way”. The Native Americans want what all other Americans have nice