Sunday, June 27, 2010
Response to Indian Killer
Indian killer by Sherman Alexie was a good book. I did enjoy the setup of the book and how each chapter was a different character. This allowed me to stay interested and not get bored with any particular character. This is a very powerful book. Not just powerful with the story and incidents that occur but with the messages hidden within. This book I must admit is not my favorite. Though it was good, it was so good to the point that I had a nightmare about it last night. Books filled with violence are not my cup of tea and with Alexie’s ability to paint a picture with his words I found myself very uncomfortable with some of the situations within. For example when Aaron and his buddies were beating the Indian couple with bats I could barely read the pages and when John was talking about the 6-year old boy I was completely disgusted and angry. I felt that a lot of the book was intended to be a message to people that even though one grows up in a world full of intermixed people, it doesn’t mean hatred and resentment doesn’t exist. I feel Alexie does this with John. John was raised by white parents and given anything and everything he ever asked for but yet still hated all white people. I feel things like this are something that occurs within a lot of people. Even if these people don’t ever act on their feelings, hatred exists in a lot of societies and is social accepted and normal.
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I agree with your statement that hatred exists in alot of societies and is social accepted and normal. People hating others has always been around and is never going to change. I just wish that people could look beside the color of someones skin and see who they really are. John was Indian, but rasied by white parents and still hated them. He never looked within them.
ReplyDeleteYes, today even though everyone is mixed with so many different backgrounds, we still look at the color of peoples skin. If one is mixed, white and black, people look at them as if they are just black. This makes that person feel like they have to chose whether to be black or white. We discussed this in class. Even though John was fully Indian, he was adopted by a white couple, who did provide him with everything. But John wanted more, and to feel accepted and feel Indian. He longed for it so much that it made him hate white men. Then, when the murders started happening, he really had the feeling to kill a white man. People sometimes think that doing something so extreme will make them feel better. But John didnt kill anyone but himself. Ii thought that was a Powerful part in the book. Very emotional, and I agree that other parts in the book were really detailed and emotional as well. All part to get the point across.
ReplyDeleteI liked reading this book it was a very interesting read. I liked how they setup the chapters how each chapter was a different character in the story. It made me mad how they treated the americans by the color of their skin. This book was published in the 90's so i snow this is still hapening today. Everyone should get treated the same no one should get favored just because thier a certain skin color.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i thought this book was violent. whenever the three boys were beating that guy on the football field i was thinking is this really happening. It helped me realize what it was liking living in that area in that time period.
I believe that the book definately illustrates the dangers for societies when prejudice is taken to the point of revenge, thus bringing about violence, death, and the mental images which can never be forgotten. The vision of John leaving the owl feathers behind demonstrates to me that he is leaving a clear message of a savage hunter-the owl. It also is a representation of how the Indians have been portrayed through television throughout the years as savages that scalp their victims. Indians are not the ones that originally initiated scalping.(I believe it were the French). Stereotypes are a form of ignorance and prejudice is a learned behavior. So much that often we don't even realize that we are making a prejudicial comment.Let's all get along and by doing so we can keep in mind the feelings of those around us.
ReplyDeleteIndian Killer was written very well, and I appreciate the different points of view in it. This left with lots of cliffhangers at the end of chapters which made me want to keep reading. However, it was this same technique that got me attached to the characters that ended up dying within the next few chapters of the book. The night I finished the book, I feared I was going to have a nightmare about it too, but fortunately I didn't. I think if they named who the Indian Killer actually was at the end of the book I would be more likely to recommend this book to my friends.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the nightmare is hilarious to me. The fact that his writing stuck with you so much to invoke a dream you didn't like is amazing. You subcnciously attached yourself to a part of a story and made it a part of you. I wish I had this happen more often to me. As a statge performer you know how to visualize a character, and when someone dies in the script you "feel" that emotion from the victim as well as the killer. I know that when I am on stage or reading over a script I find myself becomg all of the members of the cast. How would I play that role, what would i put into it from my own experiences. I think that may be why you are having such wonderfully frightening dreams. Bravo!
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