#3

     The third part to this book has been quite interesting.  A variety of things have happened.  Coyote Springs has so far been signed to a recording label, won a contest, almost thrown out of their reeservation, atteded Church, and many other things.  The most surprising part however is that they meet Big Mom.  Big Mom is believed to have supernatural powers by the Spokane Indians.  This is evident when Thomas says "'She's just a part of God...Big Mom is just a bigger part of God'" (Alexie 206).  This shows the native's faith in her powers to the point of worship, seeing her as a possible prophet.  She is quite the interesting character, actually.  I personally do not believe in magic, and neither does Victor within the book.  Somehow, however, Big Mom is able to practically reach into the mnds of the band and pull out classified information that they refuse to tell others.  One such case is when she says to Vicot that "'you should forgive that priest whho hurt you when you were little'" (Alexie 203).  Knowledge such as that doesn't just get passed around orally; in fact, I am willing to bet that Victor has not told a single soul at all about the incident where he was touched by a priest when he was young.  It brings to question if she really does have magical powers.  I see very little possibiility in courses of history for her to be able to know such a deep and personal thing about someone who didn't even believe the woman had existed to start with!  Another surprise is Junior revealing Victor's good side in a letter left for Big Mom after she further improved their playing.  In his letter, Junior reveals that Victor "borrowed money and his uncle's car and drove to Oregon and got me.  He even bought me a hamburger and fries outside Dick's and ate" (Alexie 216).  This is quite a shock to me personally so far.  Up to this point, Victor has been seen as passive aggressive to the band and bossy to Junior.  In this letter, however, a contradiction occcurs.  The reader sees Victor's good side and comes to question his own character.  The reader also question why he holds back on being nice and wonders whether or not it may have to do with the priest or some other problem he has hold dear to himself.

Francesco Pagano

P.S. Again, if there are weirdly spelled words or groups of letters missing, my computer and keyboard are going crazy. I attempted to get rid of what I could.

Reservation Blues #3

I feel as though during this section of the story, we begin to realize why Victor is the way he is. It was explained towards the beginning of the story that he was an alchoholic. He constantly asked Junior to go get a beer and it was something that happened almost every single day. He acted out in ways of violence. For example, by smashing Robert'sThomas's guitar on the ground and causing him to cry. The author explains, "Victor released Thomas from the headlock but picked up the guitar and smashed it against the sidewalk... 'There,' Victor said. 'Now you can play the song'"(15). It is then declared in chapter 7 as to why Victor is the way he is. We also see a major role added to the story in the character of Big Mom. We realize how forgiving and how influential her character is towards others in chapter 7. She says to Victor, "'Victor,' Big Mom said, 'you should forgive that priest who hurt you when you were little. That will give you power over him, you know? Forgiveness is magic, too.' 'What are you talking about?' Victor asked, but he knew. He still felt the priest's hands on his body after all those years" (203). I feel as though this quote is extremely influential on the entire story as a whole. For example,Big Mom says that by forgiving someone, it is for yourself not for the other person. I completely agree with this statement. Although it may be a difficult decision, I believe that in life, we are faced with challenges where we are hurt by others and it is up to us whether to forgive or hold onto what is hurting us. I feel as though Big Mom's statement provides a theme for this story that forgiveness is not for the other person, it is for yourself.

Yany 2

        In the next three chapter we read, many events and stories are told about that left me quite baffled. First off, Chess and Thomas fall in love. I suppose the time was much more simplistic back then, or at least in the reservation areas, because she had no problem inviting a strange, grown man back to her house. She practically begged him to the point where he couldn't say no. In order to please her, he quickly states, Well,... I'll stay for a little while. Maybe drink some coffee. How does that sounds," (p.61). It was actually an important factor to the book, for me, that Thomas went over Chess's house. When he went over, we were able to learn about the men from reservations, her father and Thomas's father. "Thomas's father still drank quietly, never raising his voice once in all of his life, just staggering around the reservation, usually covered in piss and shit," (p.57). I was completely repulsed and quite confused by this quote. How on earth did Thomas just allow his father to be the town drunk? Doesn't that give him a bad name, as well as his father? I don't know about you, but if my father was ever in a point in his life as bad as that I wouldn't just ignore it, I would force him to become a man and face his fears. The only way to fix what is wrong is to go up against your fears. Now Chess's father, on the other hand, showed the controlling stereotype of a man. "If drunk, however, he forced himself on his wife," (p. 68). This quote clarified how most men in the reservations spent their days, drunk. But Chess's father was the kind of drunk who would push around his wife and children to show that he was superior towards them. He forced his wife to have sex with him when the time was convenient for him and didn't care what she had to say about it. When men think they are that superior towards women, I become filled with hatred, especially these men. How can they just run around town all day doing whatever they please, while getting piss drunk? Then after their done playing around they come home and boss the women and children around? Honestly, how is that fair whatsoever? These chapters showed me about Thomas and Chess's love life and the arrogant men in reservations.

Reservation Blues #2

     In the second section of Reservation Blues, religion becomes a major topic. At this point in time, Coyote Springs has picked up two new members, Chess and Checkers Warm Water,  sisters from the Flathead Indian Reservation. As children growing up, Chess and Checkers also attended the Catholic church on their reservation,  just like Junior, Victor, and Thomas. Chess and Checkers, however, had always used their religion as a rock, a piece of life that was always there for the. To the three men however, the Catholic religion had always been something worthless. They all had terrible experiences with the church. For example, when Victor goes to summer camp away from the reservation, he has an awful experience with a priest there when he is only nine years old. (148) Another example of some of the bad experiences the group has as children comes from one Sunday when Thomas went to church and the priest was ordering everyone to burn their books and records. Thomas is deeply bothered by this because those books meant a lot to him and he was sadden to see them go. (146) The most important thing that this section of the book shows, however, is just how much your life can be changed by one thing. For the Warm Water sisters, religion was all they had left after their brother died. For Victor, Thomas, and Junior, religion had always seemed like something that was meant to punish them; to destroy their Spokane identity. This is a very important lesson to remember in life because if you don't know something that's going to change your life, you are going to end up going through life a miserable person who is envious of happiness. While its always good to be aware of things that change your life, it's also important to know how to turn those changes into something positive, like the Warm Water sisters did with their church experiences. Being able to make changes in your life work for you will make life so much better in the long run.

Kayley 2

Within the next few chapters, a number of concepts and events are relatable to me. Before i go into that, a major event is when Chess and Thomas fall in love. They're alike in a loy of way, including valuing old traditions. Their childhoods both suffered through pain and loss. Chess also follows traditional values of Native Americans and believes that "Indian men need Indian women.. [and] I think only Indian women can take care of Indian men" (81). There is a lot of controversary about Whites and Indians and their "mixing". Chess thinks that Victor and Junior betray their DNA, while Thomas believes that there's a shortage of love. I agree with Thomas's perspective that love it so rare, it should be celebrated when found. Anyways, Chess told stories like Thomas, who he had yet to find a woman like him until her. Their relationship is beautiful and powerful. I have a relationship with my boyfriend like that too. Coyote Springs now consists of Thomas, Voctor, Junior, Chess, and Checkers. Their band, "Coyote Springs melded faster than any garage band in history" (79). They play with pride and passion and are very professional. Music in this book is so powerful. "I used to think her songs drifted across the entire reservation. I imagined they knocked deer over and shook the antlers of moose and elk...Those songs floated up to the clouds, fell back to the earth as rain, and changed the shape of plants and trees" (66-67). This imagery is stunning and makes you feel the emotions. I can also relate to the hardships of the Warm Water's childhood. I also lost a loved one and my family coped with death in sorrow songs and plenty of alcohol. This book is so magical and beautiful. I instantly thought of my dad when "Thomas smiled because so many people visited him in memories" (91). Memories, music, and dreams are not only precious in this book, but also to me.

Reservation Blues #2

While reading the second section of Reservation Blues, I immediately began to see a change in Thomas's character. Towards the beginning of the novel, Thomas seemed as though he was sensitive and caring. For example, when Victor smashed the guitar on the ground, Thomas began to cry, making the reader feel as though Thomas was very delicate. From the very start of chapter 3, I saw a bit of a change in Thomas. When seeing Chess and Checkers, Thomas asked Victor if he was aware of their presence. Victor says, "The one with the cowboy hat and big tits?" (56). After Victor says this, Thomas agrees with him and the group of men continued their foul conversation. I feel as though this simple statement shows a change in Thomas's character because Thomas went from being a sensitive person to one who agrees with men who speak in a derogative manner towards women.

Later in the section, I again noticed something peculiar about Thomas's character that reminded me of myself. When Checker's asked Thomas if he ever drank, he replied, "Look what it did to my father" (114). I feel as though just that statement alone is influential and shows that Thomas has learned from the mistakes of his father. This quote reminded me of myself because my family has had a terrible history of alcoholism and learning that it is an addictive trait in my family, I refuse to be like others and drink. These sections of Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie show the reader character development of Thomas and how although his character has changed, he still remains educated of mistakes of the past.

Reservation Blues Response Ch 3 - 5

         The second section of this book has continued to grip me in place and force me to continue reading.  In these chapters, there is one specific story told by Thomas that intrigues me.  This story is about Thomas's father Samuel and Lester playing a game of basketball with a group of cops.  The introduction of this story plays against the reader's current perception of Thomas Builds-The-Fire's faather Samuel.  Up to the story, Samuel is known too be a heavy drunk and disgrace to the Spokane reservation.  Thomas reveals to the reader however that before his drinking days, Samuel was a strong basketball player as he states "'He was such a good basketball player that all the Spokanes wanted him to be more.  When any Indian shows the slightest hint of talent in any direction, the rest of the tribe starts expecting Jesus'" (Alexie 97).  Thomas reveals that during high school, his father was the top basketball player in the school and would be the reason that his team won.  He was so great at the game that otheers compared him to Jesus.  After high school, there was nothing left for him because of the absence of basketball in his life.  Consequently, he began drinking.  The use of the story aftterwarrds is evry powerful, negaating any current belief about Samuel there may be so far by the reader.  in this story, he is considered to be arrogant, stating that "'Two of you ain't going to be near enough...Lester and me will take on all six of you fake bastards.  Full court to ten by ones.  Make it.  Take it'" (Alexie 102).  His arrogance and self confidence is so great that Samuel challenges a group of 6 cops to a game of basketball while Lester doesn't even play well.  He is seen as rambunctious and arrogant throughout the story, never giving up hope against the cops, even though he eventually ends up losing the game.  The use of this story to contradict the older Samuel comes across very effectively as a result.

PaganoF

     PS:  Same as before, my computer keyboard is acting crazy; any double letters or crazy mixings
             of letters is due to the keyboard; I apologize in advance.