In
addition to violence, life on the reservation was often accompanied by
substance abuse. In an interview with Vicki Mabrey of CBS News, Alexie says “My
father is an amazing man. Good when he wasn’t drinking” (“The Toughest
Indian”). With that statement alone, one can sense the tension or problems
Sherman and his father encountered. In that same interview, Alexie went on to
say “He never was a violent drunk, but he would leave; he would leave to drink.
And he would go on binges for days, and a few instances for week. And until I
was 12 or 13, I would literally cry myself sick when he was gone” (“The
Toughest Indian”). Leaving Alexie emotional and the family to fend for
themselves mirrored many of the hardships other reservation families faced.
Alexie has a skill for illustrating how alcoholism shapes the lives of so many
reservation families. His many works invoke a sense of sadness in audiences but
also shows hope that his many characters can improve their situations. In his
many works he informs the reader how alcoholism ruins reservations families. He
writes in his works how alcohol kills and regardless of how many deaths it causes
people ignore these facts and continue with their addiction. Their life
consists of being born on the reservation, living their life out by drinking, and
dying on the reservation.
Sherman
Alexie’s writing opens up the eyes of his audiences to the lives Native
Americans endure. Alexie particularly had a hard time with his family. Having a
father and mother who never graduated high school, Alexie knew he had to seek
better educational opportunities outside of his home (Donovan). Within Alexie’s
own family, alcoholism was a problem. Alexie states “My dad wasn’t violent, but
he would leave us to go drinking and would sometimes be gone for weeks” (Donovan). Alcoholism plagued the Alexie
family, as Sherman himself had a “…six year binge that began the day he entered
college” (“A Reservation of
the Mind”).In his novels, as well as in his poems, Alexie makes
references to the consumption of alcohol. For example, in “Good Hair” Alexie
writes “Did you cut your hair after booze murdered your father?” (“Good Hair”).
Alcohol cannot physically take a knife or a gun to you and kill you. It is
through a long period of time and heavy consumption that booze can kill you. So
in the poem “Good Hair” the father through his own actions kills himself.