The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven: A Drug called tradition.

In “A Drug Called Tradition” a short story by Sherman Alexie. This story is featured in the book “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven” we see more play on the theme of social class. only this time it is seen from the bottom looking up. Sometimes people of a lower social class have nothing but their traditions, when these traditions fall by the wayside a severe self deprecation begins to take shape.
Thomas builds the fire is an Indian living on a Spokane Indian reservation, who is not sure of his place in the social spectrum. Thomas came into money when a power company leased some of the land he inherited to run power lines across. Thomas is a humble Indian who usually gets handed the bill for the alcohol fueled Indian pow wows. The Indians on this reservation seem to be blinded by the effects of alcohol. Ancient traditions have been replaced by binge drinking. Indulging in the consumption of alcohol is all they have left. They blame the white man for these burdens but do nothing to change their situation.
Thomas is a known storyteller. He is infamous for his gift for gab. One day while the effects of the drugs he and his friends had taken were starting to wear off, Thomas began to tell one of his morally soaked stories. The story he begins to tell features him and the two friends he is with as young Indians, before alcohol had diminished their dreams and aspirations. In the story the boys were being offered their first drinks ever, but instead of accepting they refuse the drinks. In refusing they are able to see a glimpse of a future that could have been rich in heritage and traditions. Traditions are important for the Indians, a silent protest against the white man. The only way they can fight against the white man is to stay rich in tradition, the one thing that can not be stolen from them. “I dance one step and my sister rises from the ash, I dance another and a Buffalo crashes down from the sky into a log cabin in Nebraska with every step an Indian rises, with every step a Buffalo falls…they knock all the white people from their beds, send plates crashing to the floor” (Alexie p. 17). It is apparent that the dancing represents the traditions and the buffalo disrupting the white mans sleep and destroying their valuables represents the power of staying true to you traditions. These traditions are the only bullet the Indians have left in the battle against the white mans oppression. The white man never considers the social class of the Indian man. For the Indian man to overcome this social oppression they must see beyond themselves, turn their backs on the bottle of alcohol and stay true to their traditions. In doing so they can overcome this obvious social oppression.

posted by Michael Clark