Sherman Alexie, The Lone-Ranger and Tonto: Fistfight in Heaven

Martin Kich (Wright State University)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

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…

1347 words

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 29 March 2024.]

315 The Lone-Ranger and Tonto: Fistfight in Heaven 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.