Question 9

Semiotics is the study of sign or symbol systems. Several of the literary theories that we've read about and discussed this semester investigate the idea of representation. What signifcant symbols do you notice in Alexie's novel?

I'm not sure if this is relevant to the question, but the biggest theme I see in the novel is the cartoon drawings. I'm not sure if those would be considered symbols or not because they are not actually seen within the text, but they are extremely important to the text and the telling of the story. The cartoon drawings give the story a journal-like feel that merely text would not give. It feels as though the speaker is telling his story in real time as opposed to 3 months later.

The way the drawings are varied from cartoon to "map" drawings shows the continuance of the speaker's voice through pictures as well as words. We do not just have the speaker speaking to us in his writing, but we also have him speaking to us in his drawings.

As far as actual symbols, such as the color red or a hat, I did not see any real symbols that stuck out to me within Alexie's novel. This is not to say that there weren't, I'm just saying that I'm having a really difficult time answering this question because nothing stuck out. Symbols did not seem to be incredibly important in Alexie's novel.

If I were going to say anything about Alexie's text I would say that the importance lies in being an individual and choosing to be yourself. The speaker jumped into a school where he knew he would be different but he would get a better education. The speaker's Indian friends and tribe chose to hate him, and he had to get past that. Without the speaker's individuality, which the author represented both textually as well as pictorially, the book would not have been successful.