The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Part II

In the second half of Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven I read of more sorrow, tradition, and humor. But, even more impressive to me in this set of stories was the imagery that was used. I always find it intriguing how the simple use of describing something specifically can add such power to a story. In Alexie's The First Annual All-Indian Horseshoe Pitch and Barbecue something so simple as laying under a picnic table was described so gracefully that it made me want to be under that very table. “There is something beautiful about the cool grass beneath a picnic table. I was there, half asleep, when my love crawled under, wrapped her arms around me, and sang into my ear... The sunlight squeezed through spaces between wood, fell down knotholes, but just enough to warm my face (146).”
Have you ever read a passage from a story and it seemed to transcend reality and put you in that place in your mind? Alexie has this gift. His description and imagery has the power to make you feel as though you are watching a movie or physically there watching the events play out. The passage from Alexie's Family Portrait that was describing sniffing gas also made me feel like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. “Everything underwater, like walking across the bottom of Benjamin Lake, past dead horses and abandoned tires. Legs tangled in seaweed, dance, dance again, kick the feet until you break free. Stare up at the surface, sunlight filtered through water like fingers, like a hand filled with the promise of love and oxygen (197-98).”
I find it truly amazing to come up with such vivid analogies. For me to think up something as colorful and real as the passages that I pointed out would take me forever. It is truly a fantastic talent and a mark of what an amazing writer Alexie truly is.


Posted by: Krista Behrends