Reader: Sonya Deal
November 16, 2000

"Vision (2)"

By

Sherman Alexie

Unsettling America, p. 66

            Sherman Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. He is a Spokane/Coeur d’ Alene Indian who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. He attended Gonzaga University in 1985 and after two years there, he transferred to Washington State University.

1.Objective 1a- Involuntary (or forced) Participation

2.Objective 1b- "Voiceless and Choiceless"- (Ex. "You want find his name among the end credits; you can’t hear his voice or his song".)

3.Objective 3b- "Loss and Survival"- (Ex. "Then again, who am I to talk? In the local newspaper I read this morning that my tribe escaped many of the hardships other Native Americans suffered.")

Political, Economic, and Cultural Dominance—The dominant group( Anglo Americans in the U.S.) are disproportionately holders of the most important positions in these institutions and are able to render decisions that favor their interests and values. They have greater economic and political power and their cultural characteristics become societal norms.(Martin, Marger 1996).

Whiteness as an Unmarked Category is the concept of whiteness being seen as the normal culture of the U.S. and setting the standards for which others are compared. Whites are representative of a neutral category and a sameness, while other cultures are specifically defined by whites as cultural or diverse. (Roseblum/Travis,1998)

Alexie brings attention to the different perspectives of the American experience. This poem helps to express how people of different ethnicities and races can claim to be citizens of the same country, yet have very different realities and existences. Throughout this poem Alexie mentions ideas that may be considered true and right to some, but disagreeable to him. Columbus day is a nationally recognized holiday in the U.S., but Alexie makes the reader question the validity of that recognition. He shows how although some Native Americans are assimilated to a degree, there will always be a degree of resistance until there is some change. Why would a Native American ever want to celebrate Columbus Day. Celebrating Columbus Day would almost be like African Americans celebrating the day the KKK was founded or rejoicing in the Confederate flag being displayed. This poem is expressing that there are many illusions or rather certain perspectives existing in the U.S. and that the ignored perspective or voice needs to be recognized and heard for all to consider. The voice that is most often heard is the voice of the dominant group (Anglo Americans) and the least often heard voice is that of minority groups, including the Native Americans. 

Conversational

Very expressive with a slightly political tone

"Loss and Survival" is represented throughout the language or rather use of words

Discussion Questions:

1.What is the meaning of the title, "Vision (2)"?

2. Is ambivalence represented in this poetry?

3. What is meant by: "Christopher Columbus was 500 years and 3,000 miles away, fresh from a starring role in The Great American Movie."(line 22-24), and "I’ve seen that film at the reservation drive-in"?(line 25)

           In this discussion of " Vision (2)" many of the students agreed on interpretations and answers to the questions. Most of this discussion was answering the questions that I asked. People mostly agreed on or shared some of the same views about the poem, so there was not a whole lot of drawn out answers to the questions, they were straightforward and to the point. (My respondent was not present)

             One of the first things that I was interested in was the meaning of the Sherman Alexie's title of the poem, "Vision (2)". Billie Jean thought that "Vision (2)" could stand for duality or as a secondary voice that is only considered after the dominant voice or is not considered at all because it is not the voice of the dominant group or culture. Many people in the class agreed with her and I also agreed because the minority voice is often overlooked or overshadowed by the dominant voice and is regularly not considered at all. Alexie also mentions the lack of voice in his poem.

            Ambivalence was another interesting topic that I brought up for the class to discuss. I asked the class whether ambivalence was represented in this poem or not. Most of the class agreed that is was very prevalent in this poem. The Native American in the poem likes some things about modern America, but can not forget about the past America of his people, and still resist from the dominant culture and group because he feels there are ideas that may be considered true and right to some, but disagreeable to him and his people. For example, celebrating Columbus Day, which is a national Holiday in America, is not a celebration to Native Americans, so how can it be for others?

            The last thing that I wanted to discuss was the meaning of: "Christopher Columbus was 500 years and 3,000 miles away, fresh from the starring role in The Great American Movie."(line 22-24), and, "I’ve seen that film at the reservation drive-in?"(line 25). David felt that this was referring to the western movies, which were known as ‘The Great American Movies’ of the past where whites were always the heroes and Native Americans were often extras in the movies and very disposable (Jupiter also agreed with this). As for the reference to Christopher Columbus starring in the great American movie, many of the students and I felt that this was referring back to the illusions that were spoken of earlier in the poem- one of the illusions being that Columbus discovered America when the Native Americans were already there.