Focus on the good

Society often overlooks the good in the world. The topics that are broadcasted most often in the news are deaths, rapes, murders, and crimes. We forget about all the random acts of kindness being performed every day and the humanitarians who are trying to make the world a better place. Victor’s father “never got into any serious trouble, somehow avoided rape, and got out of prison just in time to hitchhike to Woodstock to watch Jimi Hendrix play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner” (Alexie 26). Sherman Alexie talks about the father’s faults in a colloquial mannerism by going from discussing one of the worst crimes humanly possible to the largest peace gathering concert of the century.  Alexie quickly directs the readers’ attention so they will not dwell on the felonies of his father but rather on passion the father has towards “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Alexie wants the readers to focus on the good parts of Victor’s father opposed to his mistakes; he does not want readers to define Victor’s father by his wrongdoings.

Victor’s father was not necessarily a bad person; but what really define whether or not someone is a good person? He may have been a bad father for not being around, but Victor still loved and missed him. He may have been a bad husband, but he made Victor’s mother feel loved at one point. Victor’s father was invigorated enough by music to be willing to hitchhike to a concert. He also lived by a life philosophy of remembering the good things that happen in life. Despite all of his bad traits and crimes, he was still a good person at heart who made selfish mistakes.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 8, 2015 at 8:42 PM

    This post is so positive! I love it! Your analysis is interesting and great. I agree as a society we focus on the bad, but we need to focus on the good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leo McManusFebruary 8, 2015 at 10:29 PM

    I think is interesting that you mentioned his father's philosophy of "remembering the good things." It is possible that he lived the way he did by focusing on the good things and not worrying about the possible negative consequences of his actions, just their positive ones. You are the clean version of Toni Morrison, finding the redeeming qualities of the father and countering each negative with a positive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 8, 2015 at 11:12 PM

    Nice job Kathie! You made a good point of how Alexie focuses the attention on the good and not worrying about the possible consequences.

    ReplyDelete

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