“This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona.” By using background stories and third-person narratives, it introduces readers to tense relationships and seeks self-identity from the perspective of Native Americans. Alexei showed the audience the personal conflict and broken relationship between loved ones leading to the guidance, understanding, and guidance of the internal struggle. The author encourages others to ask important questions about themselves and others, allowing individuals to gain clarity and insight through self-reflection. In this way, the reader is able to identify the characters and culture embedded in the entire work. By observing the tension between the character and organizational structure of the work, people can not only learn more about the local people but also learn more about themselves.
The story was introduced around one of the main characters, Victor, who received news of his father's death. The reader can feel the impact of his father's death on Victor. Although he has not seen his father or talked to his father for many years, 'there is still hereditary pain, which is as real and direct as a fracture.' On the second page, the reader will introduce Thomas Builds-The-Fire. Like his father, Victor and Thomas are also very nervous. Although Victor's relationship with his father became nervous due to giving up, his relationship with Builds-The-Fire took place through a drunken struggle. Scholars further incited the incident, saying that 'the relationship between Victoria and Thomas is tense due to adolescence.' This shows the predicament that Victor faced in the past. This includes peer pressure, his father's negligence, and his need to adapt. It provides guidance and an example of his loss of self-identity.
This story shows how the indigenous people on the reservation do not give up their culture. This is reflected in the fact that Thomas likes to tell stories and listen to stories. In addition, Victor experienced a difficult period of trying to maintain their traditions while burying the dead. It caught my attention, how the author emphasized the ridiculousness of celebrating July 4, because 'as Thomas said, it is not like their independence.'
The essence of the story is that although Thomas's mother died at the time of childbirth, and he was raised by his grandmother, he knew that Victor had failed in the absence of his father's absence. Thomas's money and companionship are freely given to Victor to take care of him in this material passage to adulthood. The story ends with two young people from Washington State. After their long journey, Victor handed over half of his father's ashes to Thomas, both of whom planned to return the ashes to the river in Spokane Falls and continue to add chapters and retell the story that Thomas had already told.