The twenty-two stories in Alexie’s first collection,
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, are set on the reservation. Because almost every aspect of the characters’ lives comes under the purview of one government agency or another, the characters are fundamentally disconnected from the rhythms of their own daily experience. Just as there has always been a thin line between bureaucratic paternalism and exploitation, there are, in practice, fine but nonetheless profound distinctions between trying to sustain or even to resurrect some of the old cultural and spiritual traditions, and deluding oneself that a belief in the old ways can restore what history has taken. These stories feature a number of recurring narrators and characters, in particular two characters named Victor…
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Citation: Kich, Martin. "The Lone-Ranger and Tonto: Fistfight in Heaven". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 December 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=315, accessed 25 November 2024.]
