— Anonymous
Every one has an identity, who they are and where they belong to. Native American is a very small percentage of the American population. They are often mistreated and misunderstood due to their cultural background and identity. Sherman Alexie’s “The Toughest Indian in the World” demonstrates how the Native American have been trying to preserve their culture and values as they are being mistreated since the colonial time. Most of their tribes and cultures are lost as time flew. It is harder for the young people like the narrator in the story to preserve the culture since the younger generation know less than the preceding generations. It is quite confusing to the readers why the narrator would give in so easily to have sex intercourse with the fighter at the motel, and that was the first time he had it with the male partner. It was strange. He seemed like he was not a causal person. Instead, he lived with rules. The narrator tried to assimilate into the white population by following their ways. At first, I thought the narrator would have the sex intercourse with the fighter, because they both are Native American, the narrator did it just as a way to connect himself with his people. Having the common interest as the group would give people a sense of belonging. After reading the discussion posts, I found out the narrator agreed with the fighter on sex act is more like finding himself through the fighter, because the fighter is more courageous than him, and that’s what the narrator has been looking for these years. The fighter is masculine. He is not afraid to get into a fight with a person twice as his size. In addition, the fighter never hides himself. He is straightforward on telling the narrator that he would like to have sex with him. On the opposite side, the narrator lacks the courage. He is not even trying to explain himself and defend his culture when his colleague asked why he picks up the hitchhikers on his way. In a broader perspective, the fighter is living a life that the narrator expecting for. Though the sex act is challenging for the readers to understand at first and may cause some of them uncomfortable, it leads them to rethink how it might connect to the narrator, his identity, and his current situation. Since the beginning, the narrator acts like a rescuer to those hitchhikers, he deep inside also wish there will be someone to rescue him too. That rescuer happens to be the fighter he picks up. The sex act is the twist of the story, telling the readers that everyone needs some sort of reliefs and rescue. Sometimes, people may find it hard to identify themselves, so then their needs. The narrator wouldn’t be able know he could smell like the salmon one day, if he hadn’t come across the fighter. The presence of the fighter acted like a light to the narrator, guiding him to find his true self as well as lighting the hope he thought that is vanished.
