“This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” Sherman Alexie

      I chose the quote "Victor, I'm sorry about your father," Thomas said. "How did you know about it?" Victor asked. "I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. Also your mother was just in here crying".

      Its not really a singular quote but a section of the writing that really seemed to bring a lot of things down to earth. I think about my family and my reality. My father and I are also not very close, we see each other a few times a year, and I'm the only one that ever calls or caontacts him. If he were to die though, I would be with my family in grievance while I remembered all the good and bad things my father did. This brings to light a cultural difference to me. In one of the lines of the story Victor describes the reservation as a place of "empty bottles and broken dreams". That really cuts into the comfort I feel in my own life. I cannot help but feel sympathetic for Victor and Thomas when I think of how lucky I've been in my life.
    The story seems to outweigh the movie, in my opinion, in respect to the gritty, poor, destitute feeling of the reservation, while the depth that the story goes into about Thomas was really interesting to read. I enjoy reading about characters that seem to be on the borderline of crazy and psychic. Thomas seems to have no "filter" and even though his environment can be hostile towards that, he keeps going and believing in himself.
    I enjoyed the movie for its lighthearted moments and the actors were pretty good. I enjoyed the reading for its close proximity to the realities and intensity of the reservation life.