In Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” Jackson Jackson gives a detailed account of his Spokane Indian Heritage. He also expresses that Indians are “great storytellers and liars and mythmakers” (2) when he gives an account of one of his other homeless acquaintances who claimed to be the father of an editor to a famous newspaper, but Jackson holds a mistrust in his generic “Plains Indian” affiliation as opposed to a specific tribe. “Do any of us know exactly what we are?” was his friend’s response (2).
Alexie himself is a Spokane/Coeur d’ Alene Indian who, much like Jackson, left the reservation to attend college and later moving to Seattle. His distinctive brand of “storytelling” usually involves themes of displaced Native American heritage, often aloof in a western postcolonial context and often hued with dark, biting humor. When Jackson wakes up on the railroad tracks and jokes about almost being a “double Indian pepperoni with extra cheese,” the white policeman that found him is perplexed at how “you guys” can laugh in the face of extreme adversity (18). Referring to your classmates’ presentations, in what ways is this short story both an allegory for plight of Native Americans and a reflection of Alexie’s own struggles with his identity? What did Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia represent? Specifically, how does the regalia relate to the storytelling and mythmaking (think back to our very first reading and class discussion) so prevalent in Native American heritage? In this regard, what do you make of his interactions with the three Aleuts? The ending? (250-300 words, due lesson 24)
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The short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is representative of the adversity Native Americans have been subjected to. The work is also a reflection of the author, Sherman Alexie’s, struggles with his own identity. It is centered around a poor, alcoholic, homeless, Native American protagonist named Jackson Jackson. He must raise a thousand dollars in 24 hours in order to buy back his grandmother’s stolen regalia from a pawn shop. Over the course of the story he manages to find money, only to give it away. This theme by itself is an allegory for the plight of Native Americans over the course of American history. Their culture is centered around family and generosity. As a result, they are often taken advantage of. There are other elements in the story that represent the unfortunate history of prejudice against Native Americans. Jackson’s native friend supposedly dies of exposure, homeless, behind a wealthy hotel. The three Aleuts he met probably drowned. Jackson Jackson’s life was in considerable jeopardy when he was passed out drunk on train tracks. “What You Pawn I will Redeem” can also easily be interpreted as a reflection of Alexie’s own sustained effort to come to terms with his heritage and identity. As a child he left the reservation he grew up on to go to college. Undoubtedly he would have missed his people while he was away. As he acquired more education, he probably began to understand the injustice surrounding his people’s history more and more. His disposition surrounding these developments in his life are apparent in the way he writes this story. He frequently references the way his people have been mistreated, both directly and indirectly. It is also important to more closely examine the meaning behind his grandmother’s regalia. I believe that the regalia was a metaphor for the heritage and culture that has been stripped from native Americans, yet still displayed (and frequently misrepresented) in popular culture.
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Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is an allegory for many of the plights of Native Americans, but I think that the most prevalent one is the struggle with alcoholism, especially when looking at Jackson Jackson and his alcoholic tendencies. Alcoholism is stereotypically a wide-problem within the Native-American community, and seems to be Jackson’s main connection back to that community, as seen in most of his interactions with other Native Americans being centered around alcohol, either from 7-11 or at the bar. However, when Jackson comes upon his Grandmother’s regalia, he discovers something else that can give him a connection back to his heritage without residing in a bottle. Jackson epitomizes that of a homeless transient, who’s two main friends in the beginning of the story suddenly leave without notice, leaving him with loose connections to other patrons of his town. However, this regalia is something real and permanent that connects him back to his home and the rest of the community with which he interacts with. The regalia itself is also reflective of the storytelling and mythmaking so prevalent in Native American heritage. This inanimate object has a life of its own within the story. Jackson refers to himself as the yellow bead hidden in it, the purposeful mistake in order to identify its ownership. I think Jackson relates to the bead in that he also sees his life as a mistake. He’s a homeless college-dropout with asocial disorder separated from the rest of his family in Spokane. However, all of this is hidden, just like the bead, in that Jackson knows most people outside of his circle don’t see him as any different from the rest of the homeless Indians in Seattle.
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Using my classmates’ presentations, the story is an allegory for the plight of natives and a reflection of his own identity and shows this through the events that Jackson Jackson goes through. He is homeless, buys a lot of alcohol, and spends money like he has enough to get by. He shows us that many of the natives are homeless, like him, and this was not always the case. This is a relatively new occurrence since the white people took over. This event, along with others in his life, have caused many of the natives to become alcoholics and when they get money, they spend it on either the lottery or alcohol. The regalia is a representation of cultural importance and personal history for Jackson Jackson in addition to the identity of the Spokane natives. The regalia is unique to Jackson Jackson because it contained the specific yellow bead. He knows that it is part of his family traditions because of the hidden yellow bead. A lot of traditions and heritage in the Native culture are passed down through word of mouth and the Spokane are no exception. The regalia is a tangible item that can be used to supplement the traditions passed down orally and brings back significant memories when Jackson Jackson looked at it. The items used are not only costumes used to help tell stories, but they can represent and entire tribe. Each tribe has their own traditions and each person has their own memories associated with their tribe. The regalia, to Jackson Jackson, represents the memories of his entire tribe. When Jackson Jackson runs into the three Aleuts, they sing tribal songs, passing their traditions through word of mouth. They don’t use regalia to tell stories, but they can still pass down their beliefs through music.
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In Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” Jackson Jackson gives a detailed account his quest to earn and win his grandmothers regalia back. This story is an allegory to the stereotypes and traps Indians fall into due to the fact that their heritage has been stripped from them, so they have nothing an no identity, but to fall into the stereotypes that are placed on them. Jackson overcomes falling into the many stereotypes along his journey to end up getting what he set out for, which was the regalia. To me the regalia represents a connection to the heritage and his past that he feels he lost now being a homeless on the streets like the many other Indians around him. His heritage and is connection to his Indian brethren comes and goes, just like his friends in the story who disappear, or the many other types Indians he meets, and then disappear. Jackson feels like he is losing his connection his heritage, but the regalia gives him a connection that he can control, something that will not disappear, unless he sells it so he can get drunk or eat like he does with all the money the gets in the story. A lot of Native American stories are about personal quests and spiritual journey and this story is one of those with a modern representation to the new struggles Indians face. With the three Aleuts who have been waiting for 11 years for a ship that is not coming, but then after eating with Jackson disappear to me I saw it as they were waiting for someone to care appreciate them and once they got that from Jackson they finished their quest and could ride off into the sunset. With Jackson he found his purpose and meaning in his quest for the regalia and once he achieved it, he could dance off into the sunset.
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The short story “What you Pawn I will Redeem” is an allegory for the struggles Native Americans faced as well as a reflection of Alexie’s personal struggles in life. Jackson Jackson’s situation relates to Alexie’s situation in many ways. They are both from the Spokane Indian tribe and moved to Seattle. Jackson Jackson has an alcohol problem, and at one point in his life, Alexie did as well. The story also represents the plight of Native Americans by showing Alexie buying alcohol, even though he is homeless with little money. The pawn shop owner not giving Alexie the regalia at first could represent White American Society and how it took over Native American culture. The regalia itself represents Native American culture that is lost. Alexie wants this regalia even though he has nothing else, because it connects him with his family. Though he is homeless in Seattle, the regalia gives him the connection to his tribe he has been searching for. Alexie has been using alcohol to cope with his struggle with his identity, but the regalia finally gives him a sense of identity. The regalia and the one yellow bead hidden in it relate to the story telling prevalent in Native American culture. Alexie is not with his family anymore; however, because of this story telling he will always know how to locate an artifact from his tribe. Alexie’s interactions with others in the short story reflect how his family acted on their reservation. He tries to emulate his family and be like them in every way he can. The ending of the story represents what white culture has done to Native Americans. Although the pawn shop owner gives Alexie the regalia, he is still homeless and an alcoholic.
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“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is an allegory for the plights of Native Americans and a reflection of Alexie’s struggles with his identity in many ways. The short story specifically shows the many struggles Jackson Jackson endures such as homelessness, alcoholism, mental disorder, and more. There are a significant number of Native Americans like Jackson who are homeless and living in Washington. He attributes the many homeless to the displacement of their heritage by colonialism. When Jackson stumbles upon a pawn shop that he has never seen before and is drawn in by what he believes is his grandmother’s regalia, he sets his mind on getting it back. The owner of the regalia hardly offers negotiation and tells him to come back the next day with 999 dollars, gives him twenty dollars to start, and Jackson leaves the shop. Although he has no money and every time, he gets his hands on some he ends up spending it whether it is on food, alcohol, or lottery tickets, he remains ambitious and determined to get this article back. Because the regalia is a tangible piece of his heritage, directly from his grandmother, it represents a direct tie to his culture, something he can literally touch and hold on to. This regalia relates to the story telling because even though the heritage was displaced and there are many different Native Americans from many different tribes and places dispersed all over, physical artifacts like the regalia and storytelling/myth making allow them to feel connected to their tribe and heritage, even if they cannot go to the physical place they are from. This is seen in Jackson’s interaction with the Aleuts when they sing their sacred songs together and, in the end, when Jackson dances in his grandmother’s regalia. The singing and dancing, like the myths and storytelling, allowed Jackson and the Aleuts to feel close to their heritage and in a sense, allow them to find and stay in touch with their identity.
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After reading through Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” I was confused as to the meaning behind the plot of the short story. Jackson needed $999 dollars to achieve his “quest” of earning back his grandmother’s regalia. However, every time he got some money, he immediately spent it on alcohol or food. I struggled to understand how this pattern related to Jackson’s connection with his Native American culture. Keegan’s presentation revealed that the short story is an allegory for the generous and communal culture of the Native Americans. Jackson always split his money evenly with his fellow native Americans every time he spent it. Additionally, the short story reflection Alexie’s struggles as he is torn between communal directed ideals of his Native American culture and the American ideals more focused on keeping one’s money for themselves and saving it up. Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia represented the Native American culture hidden amongst the rest of American society. As Jackson went on his quest to gain money, a goal generally associated with the “American Dream,” he still reverted to his roots as he shared the little wealth he gained. His inability to buy into the “American Dream” left him back at the pawn shop with $5. Despite his lack of money, he still got his grandmother’s regalia, showing that his Native American roots can be achieved through his heritage roots, not through money. His interaction with the Aleuts reinforces this idea, as he spent his last surge of “wealth” on breakfast with them. Despite his current situation, he evenly split $25 with them over breakfast. Jackson achieved his quest of earning his grandmother’s regalia, his Native American roots, through embracing the ideals and values of their culture.
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In Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I will redeem” Jackson’s grandmother’s powwow dress represents a lot of different things. Starting off it represents the old heritage of the Spokane Indians and the type of things they used to do when Jackson was a child. When Jackson says that he might think that his grandmother started to get sick after her dress was “stolen” is shows how dear to her the dress was to her, enough that it would have made her sick. The dress is a symbol that Alexie uses to show how the Indian heritage and culture had been “stolen” from them and their way of life destroyed. This goes to show how much Indian heritage and culture were disrupted by colonialism and the reservations. This forced Indians like the Spokane to move from their Native lands to very crowded and rural reservations. This not only impacted their living conditions but environmental traditions and cultures, causing massive poverty, sickness, and disarray. People like Jackson’s grandmother probably were moved and might have either forgot or left her dress behind after having to leave to move to the reservations.
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I think that Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is both an allegory for the plight of Native American’s and a reflection of the author’s own identity crisis. I think that while the story was told by one person, Jackson, he meets many other Native American’s who have some of the same struggles which proves that Jackson’s struggles are not personal as other people have them and are struggling with the same thing. In the beginning of the story we see Jackson struggling with finding who he is—I think that he views himself as a Native American college drop out who has excelled in and has no potential for anything except being homeless. He tells readers that he wanders the streets with his two friends, drinks lots of alcohol, and is friends with people who will help him. However, when he sees his grandma’s regalia, it serves as a reminder that no matter where he is or what is happening in his life, he has his heritage and his memories, and nothing can take that away from him. It reminds him of who he is and where he came from. It gives him an identity that he can cling to. In the same way, story telling does the same thing: it reminds people of their past and it allows people to lose themselves in someone else’s story. When Native American’s tell stories, they often share their past, their beliefs, their struggles and their history which helps unite them and remind them of who they are. It gives everyone hearing these stories an identity that they can fall back on when they feel lost or alone. When Jackson interacts with the Aleuts, he feels close to his heritage again and it is another reminder of who he is and where he came from. I think this encounter helps him realize that other Native Americans are going through the same struggles he is, but together, they can help each other.
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In Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Receive,” he exposes the major plights which Native Americans experience as a result of displacement and becoming disenfranchised by most of the United States. In the story, he narrates through the character of Jackson, a Native American man who must find his grandmother’s regalia. Based off the presentations offered by my classmates, it is worthy to point out the influence of alcohol as a coping mechanism to the trauma which Native Americans have received. Additionally, the symbolism behind Jackson’s quest demonstrates the true value of Native American culture despite their troubled past. As evident in the short story, Jackson resorts to heavy alcohol consumption, attempting to drink his pain and sorrows away. By incorporating this habit, Alexie demonstrates to the reader that often, Native Americans must find solutions to the pain they experience from living on reservations and being confined to miniscule social status. In addition to this aspect, Alexie centers the story around a journey to obtain a strong cultural object. This can be seen symbolically as Jackson’s (Alexie’s) emerging appreciation for his culture and heritage. In a world where he has grown farther and farther from his culture, this adventure brings him closer to it. Finally, the encounter with the three Aleuts gets at a hidden theme. These three Native Americans came to Seattle from Alaska to party hard at an Indian bar, yet they became broker and broker. Now, they wait to return to their hometown, symbolic for the way in which Native Americans are trying to return to their homelands before they were pushed and confined into reservations.
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This story is one of a man in search of a missing piece of family history, spending most of his time in a drunken stupor. This story is a very clear allegory that discusses both the struggles of the author, and of American Indians as a whole. Indian reservations are notorious for their poverty, and the alcoholism of many of their residents, which has led to a stereotype forming. Jackson and his friends, along with almost all of the the Indians in the story, are constantly drunk, or in pursuit of inebriation. Jackson is trying to reclaim a stolen piece of family regalia, taken from an ancestor. This is symbolic of the rich history and culture of the Indian nations that has been lost, taken from the ancestors of modern day Indians. It is symbolic of some who try to pursue this lost culture, in order to keep it alive as time marches on. Alcoholism is addressed again when the Aleuts are discussed. They left their homelands to party and get drunk, just to end up destitute, and eventually dead. They were waiting though, waiting to return to their homelands in Alaska. This is symbolic of those who have left the reservations today in pursuit of something more, but who long for their homes, even though they know they may not be better off than they are in the world. The regalia is symbolic in more ways than one. As a piece of Jackson’s culture, it ties him to the past and to his family. It puts in his mind a multitude of stories and myths, that may have zero basis in reality, but anchor him to it nonetheless by providing some solace in the cruel, drunken haze he resides in. Through her regalia, he is able to channel his past, even if it isn’t a true one. He is able to feel close to his own past, and his peoples past, even if it is one that is not in line with reality, or wasn’t ever in line with it.
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According to my classmates’ presentations, “When You Pawn, I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie is an allegory for the plight of Native Americans. The story details the adventure Jackson Jackson embarks on to win his grandmothers powwow regalia back. After stumbling upon a pawnshop he has never seen before, he is convinced that the regalia in the window is the one stolen from his grandmother when she was still alive. This short story depicts Native Americans after white people took over and they fell into their own stereotypes. Alcoholic and a homeless, Jackson Jackson gets by with the money he “earns” and even shares his “wealth” when he can. Throughout his journey, he wants to prove himself worthy of his grandmother’s regalia by earning the nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, but in the end, he returns with the same but different five dollars that he had the day before. The regalia was a symbol of his cultural identity that he had long lost in the midst of the stereotypes. In the span of the twenty-four hours in this short story, every Indian that Jackson Jackson had crossed paths with, disappeared into thin air and had stories spread about them dying one way or another. This just represents the storytelling and mythmaking nature of Indians. I also think it is important to mention that the regalia is the only thing that will remain constant. His friends in Seattle will leave and go on with their separate lives, his family is not with him, and his money goes as quickly as it comes, but the regalia is a tangible item that he holds value in. It represent his culture and his identity.
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As I contemplated what Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia represented in, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” I was reminded of Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote, whom I have enjoyed reading during my time at home, “If you stare into the abyss long enough, the abyss stares back at you.” The abyss in this sense represents what you could be, and as it stares back at you it reveals what you really are. Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia is synonymous with this idea. For Jackson, his grandmother’s regalia is representative of the abyss. The regalia embodies what the Spokane Native American was, and what Jackson would be had the Europeans never came to America. At the same time, the regalia reveals back to Jackson what he believes he is through the “white man’s” lens. Moreover, this revealing corresponds to Sherman Alexie’s own struggles with his identity. It is through this idea that Alexie’s story exposes itself as an allegory. Native Americans were murdered, forced onto reservations, and eventually indoctrinated into the white man’s ways through compulsory schooling. How does one expect Native Americans to be successful in European systems when they had been living differently for more than 10,000 years? That itself is the hidden moral story of, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.” Jackson’s interaction with the Aleuts characterizes how the Spokane Native Americans lived previously. Although Jackson never knew these three hungry Aleuts, he generously shared money he did not have and bought them a meal. Finally, the ending of Alexie’s story represents recent attempts by whites to mend old wounds with Native Americans when the pawn keeper returned the stolen regalia back to its rightful owner for 1/200 of the original price.
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Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” is a short allegorical story that follows a homeless Indian man, Jackson Jackson, over a twenty-four-hour period, as he tries to accomplish the mission of earning enough money to buy a stolen family memento in a shop. After entering the pawn shop and displaying ownership for the regalia with a hidden detail, the two men strike up a deal: if Jackson can return in twenty-four hours with $999, the regalia will belong to his family again. The shopkeeper even starts off the collection by giving Jackson $20 on the spot. The rest of the story displays a mixture of kindness and misplaced priorities as the main character wastes money, comes into contact with more, looks out for others, and ultimately gives priority to his vices until he enters the shop again with only five dollars and is given the regalia out of the kindness of the shopkeeper’s heart, despite his failure to truly work for something that he claimed was a meaningful goal.
Allegorically, the story inspects the hardships of homelessness in relation to a Native American demographic to build upon an underlying message that the struggles Indian tribes have faced in North America are not over. Further, Alexie wanted the displayed regalia in the window to look like a trophy that was taken from a conquered foe. This symbolism displays the myth making techniques that Alexie referred to because myths are so often symbolic. Alexie was referring to the plight of Indian tribes losing land to white settlers. According to Christina Lyons’ presentation, Alexie was an alcoholic, which was clearly referenced in the way the main character wasted money and precious time on alcohol consumption. Alexie explored a theme of brokenness by referencing tumors at 3 P.M., then a “busted stomach” at 5 P.M., his grandmother’s story about a man without legs at 6 P.M., and his joke about becoming a pizza on the train tracks at 6 A.M. The brokenness culminated with himself becoming “a double Indian pepperoni” which reveals that the theme reflected his personal struggle. The final symbolism that brings closure to the story mentioned three Aleuts disappearing into the water, either being freed from oppression when the regalia is regained and Jackson brought honor back to his people, or they die because the regalia was not earned in a proper way.
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The regalia is a material satisfaction of the most basic human desires: to have hope and purpose. For a homeless Indian, these basic desires are a scarce commodity. Jackson’s Indian community is deprived of the hope and purpose so many Americans source from national identity. The Indian’s are ideologically separated from their environment, perpetually disconnected from their own sense of purpose. Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia is a physical source of the psychological security that comes from tradition and family. It is meaningful that Jackson remembers the regalia fifty years after it was lost. The Indian tradition of storytelling, but also communication through lineage and the passing down of family heritage by the spoken word, comes to have a profound effect of what Jackson now sees as his purpose. There is little physical description of the regalia’s appearance. The only mentioned quality is the one imperfect hidden yellow bead. But the regalia’s importance is entirely in what it symbolizes, not what it is worth or how it looks. This may very well be why Alexie chooses to end the story with Jackson being gifted the regalia. The ending seemed, to me, a surprising – almost unfitting – lucky turn for a homeless Indian that doesn’t catch many such breaks. But upon reconsideration, Alexie’s depiction of Jackson defies most of my expectations. He has remarkably pure intentions, takes pride in his reputation, and everyone – except the bartender – treats Jackson accordingly. Even Jackson’s unhealthy habits are expressed in a matter-of-fact way rather than seeming like conscious destructive decisions. The course of events sums to a surprising new appreciation for the emotional impact of purpose.
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In Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, the one-day-long glimpse into the life of the Native American Jackson Jackson. Jackson is homeless and harbors certain resentment toward the white man that is more visible at times than others, but is never overt. He is an alcoholic and doesn’t appear to have any family close by to fall back on. He is a lone wolf and chooses to interact with fellow Native Americans more than anyone else. He undertakes a “mission” to buy back his alleged grandmother’s regalia from a pawnshop, except the price is nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, and he has only five dollars. He is allotted twenty-four hours to procure the money but instantly falls into a pattern of being generously given some money and then throwing it all away, whether by alcohol, food, or gambling. All the while Jackson believes he is working hard and spending his money wisely, but it was only because of the graciousness of the pawnshop worker in the end that he was able to buy his grandmother’s regalia for a measly five dollars. This story is somewhat a reflection of Alexie’s own life, as he is a Native American and suffered from alcoholism. Through the lens of Jackson, Alexie detailed how a Native American might perceive the United States: The Native Americans’ plight is a result of the white man’s greed. Their stereotypical homelessness and alcoholism are simply the outcome of the white man stealing their land and crafting institutions that render success for the Native Americans impossible. Of course, Alexie himself achieved success, so perhaps this short story is simply an allegory of the general plight of Native Americans, and the regalia is simply a symbol of a lost, desirable past that is impossible to acquire, and the Aleuts Jackson meets are the very personification of modern Native American culture—waiting for something (their past life) that will never return.
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The short story is an allegory for the plight of Native Americans and Alexie’s own struggles because while Jackson Jackson’s problems are unstable, the only stable thing he holds onto is his heritage. His friends and money cyclically leave him throughout the 24-hour period. He makes a little then spends it just as he makes friends who then walk away. However, his connection to his grandmother, his family, and his home stay with him no matter how much everything changes. Thus, he holds onto his grandmother’s regalia because it is a tangible symbol of her spirit and who he is as a person. It is a stable and real reminder of his identity. This relates to storytelling in that it is representative of generations of Indian peoples lives and stories. Similarly, each person he meets tells one story even though they disappear, they cumulatively tell the story of the Indian people. Though he doesn’t know the three Aleuts, Jackson buys them food because they are representative of his family and friends. All his people are connected through their heritage and share many of the same stories, so he does not feel as if they are strangers. By sharing a meal with them, it is just the same as sharing a meal with his family. I think Jackson’s inability to hold onto and save money represents the Indian populations inability to adapt to American life. He spends graciously and lives in the moment, making friends and memories along the way. Even though he cannot save for the regalia, he gets it in the end as good karma for his generous actions.
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Early on, one notices that Sherman Alexie uses Jackson to reveal a bit about himself. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “as a boy, he was much influenced by his maternal grandmother, a spiritual leader of the Spokane, who died when he was eight.” This background coupled with the fact that the character Jackson reveals his grandmother passed away when he was young at the age of 14 allows one to safely assume that the regalia represents something surreal to both these characters. It’s a combination of both the memory of Alexie’s grandmother and the spiritual identity of the Spokane Indians which Sherman and Jackson moved away from long ago, but now have a yearning to win back. Now through this lens one understands that this quest is not simply an adventure to buy a piece of cloth, but something far greater. Jackson says to himself, “I wondered whether I could bring my grandmother back to life if I bought back her regalia” (Alexie p. 6). The regalia represents their stolen identity and the quest is to win back an essential part of themselves that has been taken away.
Finally, Alexie’s parallels the story of history of the Spokane Tribe through the evident theme of dispossession and disposition throughout the story. Framed as a homeless alcoholic Indian, it is understood that Jackson’s life has no concrete form. He is living day to day off random means and lacks the consistency of a normal life similar to how the Spokane Tribe has been historically pushed off their land and been stripped of the normalcy in their lives. Jackson’s nonchalant separation from new and old friends throughout the story demonstrates how common this aspect of life is for him. In a 24 hour period the crew that Jackson claims to mean so much completely disbands by the end. Rose of Sharon leaves without saying goodbye. And later Junior takes off in the same manner. Even new friends at the bar and Aleuts who wander near the dock disappear. However, none of it really impacts Jackson because he is used to the constant motion, just like the history of the Spokane Tribe. And when the pawnbroker asks he casually replies. “They went travelling, But it’s O.K. Indians are everywhere” (Alexie p. 20).
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This short story is both an allegory for the plight of Native Americans and Alexie’s struggles with his identity. It can represent the plight of Native American’s because the story is essentially a documentation of all the wrong in homeless Native American lives. It talks about the fights, drunkenness, abandonment of friends, and the death that surrounds the lives of these people. I can be a representation of Alexie’s struggles with his identity because the story characterizes all the different groups of Indians present within the United States. However, the statement by Jackson, “Do any of us know exactly what we are?” shows that Alexie may be struggling with his identity. For example, the grandmother’s Regalia that Jackson is trying to purchase throughout the story is representative of what he is and where he comes from; it can be viewed as a connection to his past and a sense of purpose. The Regalia is a connection to the past because each picture and character sewn into it represents an event in their familial history. Therefore, the Regalia relates to storytelling and mythmaking because, as someone makes their families Regalia, they can alter or make up any details they want, retelling the history from their specific perspective. I believe that Jackson’s interactions with the three Aleuts demonstrate the connectedness of Native American tribes while also highlights those specific tribal details that are unique to each tribe just as there are particular details of regalia unique to each family. While Native Americans are grouped as one big cohesive group, there are divisions, and each has their own experiences. This is why it is so impactful that in the end, Jackson said, “I am my grandmother,” because, with her Regalia, he felt like he belonged again.
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The regalia in the story is the focal piece of the story because it mimics the same format used by native mythmakers. The tale requires some end goal to both entice the reader and have some type of finale for the tale. The regalia is the main object, but if the story only contained events directly related to the pawn shop and its regalia then it would not be revealing of the struggles Jackson faced. By placing his struggles in line with a larger quest for redemption tale the author makes the story an interesting odyssey worth reading. This falls in line with a common method of Native American story telling where the end goal is not the real object of the story, but the struggles faced to achieve it. By this measure, his grandmother’s regalia is an object of their heritage, but his quest for it is also true to his native roots. The amount of times Jackson unintentionally adheres to traditioned native customs shows that the character carries his culture with him in more ways than just physical regalia. In the final moments of the story, after Jackson receives his family regalia, his dancing in the street finishes off the story with an outburst of joy akin to a traditional hunter coming back successful. This parallel used traffic as his audience, but he was proud nonetheless to flaunt his accomplishment for all to see. While Jackson likely would never realize his likeness to his ancestors, the author uses his gritty story to make the connection available to the reader.
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In the story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” the author Sherman Alexie writes about a Native American named Jackson. Through this character examples of Native American struggle are prevalent. Throughout the story Jackson endures battles from being homeless as well as those that come with being an alcoholic. This story has a much deeper meaning then just a character that spends all his money, or “wastes” it. The deeper meaning is found from the ties to Native American culture and the true importance of relationships. This specifically is portrayed through Jackson’s discovery of his grandmother’s regalia. Although it may seem foolish to spend the small amount of money, he has by paying for “five drinks for everybody!” at the bar, there exists an underlying meaning (Alexie). It is shown by Jackson’s choice to chose to spend time with fellow natives and enjoy their presence. Not only does this reveal a deeper meaning to the story about the importance of the relationships between Native Americans, it works as a reflection of Alexi’s own struggle with his identity. This is incorporated through the character Jackson. Alexie created Jackson to be similar as they both went to college and dropped out. In this story Jackson is representative of Native Americans that were alcoholics. Alexie closely relates to that as his own parents suffered from this disease. I think Jackson’s journey to reconnect with his Native American heritage shows that one can reconnect in different ways then expected, and Alexie also had to realize that. As stated earlier the regalia is represented as his ties to his culture. The goal to earn the regalia transforms the story from being about a drunk to a story about a struggling Native American living off every dollar he is given. The regalia connects his actions of sharing his fortune with others to the heritage beliefs of caring for one another. His interactions with the three Aleuts show the common struggle with connecting to their past. The ending shows that even though Jackson never earned enough money for the regalia, he earned it in a different way and is uplifted through his ancestors.
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This is one of the best short stories i have had the opportunity to read. To me, Jackson’s grandmothers regalia represented not only his heritage and where he came from, but a beacon of hope for him and his people. There was a lot of “mythmaking” going on in this story, and as time went on, it became more apparent that that’s what Jackson wanted to be. He was a drunk that took from people and borrowed money that he never ended up using for what he was told to use it for. Yet, the ending of the story was moving. It made me think there was a whole story within the story itself. To me, that story became of how Jackson had lost his own culture and now, with his grandmother’s regalia, he had now found that sense of Native American Culture he had lost many years ago.
Jackson’s conversations with the Aleutes was interesting because they sat waiting on this wooden bench for years, trying to find a sliver of hope that they would get to go home again to Alaska. I think Jackson is able to learn a lot from these three because of the fact that for 11 years they have gone out everyday and waited. They have never given up hope. I think that Jackson sees that desire in them and takes that lesson of never giving up from those three and puts it to his never giving up state of getting the regalia back. The ending was my favorite part because it brought back everything whole. For a while i thought that Jackson was just pretending it to be his grandmothers to earn a quick buck, but at the end, seeing the connection with his heritage and his grandma was unbelievable.
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Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is a clear allegory to the plight of Native Americans and the author’s own struggles. While Jackson attempts to get his grandmother’s regalia his struggles with alcoholism and self-worth become apparent. The stereotypes that Alexie presents of Native Americans seem to follow what most people agree with. Native Americans in many modern movies struggle with alcoholism and trying to find purpose in a world that neglects them. The regalia represents his connection he still holds to his people. Even though he finds himself on the streets; he still has a connection to who he used to be. However, the disconnect between what he knows today and who he was before is shown by the turnover in his life and lack of stability. His friends are leaving, he can not commit to getting the regalia back, and “bought three bottles” with the money he had got. Jackson lacks a sense of purpose and direction even for the simple purpose of getting the regalia back. Originally, he spends all his money on alcohol, but as the story progresses he begins to spend his money on others. He ends by buying lunch for some other Indians before going to the pawn shop. Although he lacks the discipline to keep the money and work for it he still in the end gets the regalia. However, he loses his friends, the Aleuts die, and his alcoholism is not solved. This story seems to be a microcosm of the real world and the wide spread problems that plague the Native Americans.
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Jackson Jackson’s struggle for identity is directly reflected in the story’s own inability to find its identity. Jackson himself makes the claim that Native Americans are “great storytellers and liars and mythmakers.” And yet the story that he tells is not one that is told in the style of Native American stories, or any stories for that matter. If the story followed a traditional format, it would document Jackson’s adventure to raise money for his grandmother’s regalia, likely traveling through extreme adversity, undergoing character development, and through a miracle, raising the money. This is not even remotely what happened. Throughout the story, various characters gift Jackson with money as he tells them his plight. However, instead of following the traditional path of saving his money, Jackson goes out and spends it on alcohol and cigarettes. He spends his day of trial seemingly wasting his time, squandering what is given to him, and failing to take on the mantle of a hero in a story that desperately needs one. On the surface level, Jackson Jackson failed, and only eventually obtained the regalia through pity. But, on a deeper level of analysis, the story is not one of failure, despite its non-traditional arc. It is important to see not what Jackson spends his money on, but who. He is always generous with the money he spends, never selfish. In fact, although it appears Jackson wastes his money, it seems he wastes it for the benefit of others. In the story, it seems that even Jackson does not recognize the extent of his selfless actions, but the reality is he gives up the chance of getting the regalia in order to make others happy. Therefore, when he receives the regalia at the end, despite his failure, it could be seen as not an act of pity, but a reward well earned.
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Many of Sherman Alexie’s stories, including “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, run with the theme of alcoholism. It is one of the many stereotypes associated with American Indians today and a problem that Sherman Alexie has had multiple encounters with himself. Growing up on the Spokane Reservation in Washington, Alexie dealt with alcoholic adults for all of his childhood. I believe that he himself also had a problem with alcohol in his adulthood. It is interesting that Jackson Jackson barely even reflects on this issue that he has and instead talks around saving money in favor of buying alcohol. The grandmother’s regalia that Jackson encounters in the pawn shop is a representation to Jackson of his grandmother and to the reader of perhaps the identity and heritage of American Indians everywhere, stolen from them semi-unwittingly by the white colonizers. The story as a whole revolves more-or-less around reobtaining this regalia, really without much effort on Jackson Jackson’s part. His interactions with the three Aleuts are interesting in that they got along so well, despite being from different tribes. They all kind of identified as “American Indian” together while reserving their own unique heritage for when they were alone with their peoples. These Aleuts waiting for their ship which had left them eleven years prior were very similar to Jackson Jackson. They were broke and aimless and Jackson says that after he left them they had walked into the ocean, either to drown themselves or walk back to Alaska. One last thing that I found interesting was Jackson’s final question, “Do you know how many good men live in this world? Too many to count!” It is interesting to see someone in a bad situation with no money feel so happy about the world. It is not a circumstance I would ever want to be in but he seems to have no problem with just living day-to-day.
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After reading “What You Pawn You Will Redeem,” it is clear the author is describing the attributes of Native Americans and the qualities they possess through symbolism. The main message of the story revolves around the idea of giving. There are countless times where Jackson Jackson spends his money on others. Jackson supplies his buddies at Seven Eleven, the grocery store, the diner, and many more places. Why does he do this? It is because all of them “matter to each other,”. This is more than an individual attribute, but a reflection of the whole Native American Culture. This is the central idea of the story, so it is appropriate that it revolves around the culture. There are other key symbols that reflect the Native American Culture. The regalia, which reflects the idea of ancestry and family, is the main focus for the plot of the story. This regalia is what drives the actions of Jackson to be selfless. In general terms, the worship of ancestry is what drives Native Americans to be selfless. Another symbolic place is the Native American restaurant Jackson goes to. The name of this restaurant is called “Big Hearts,” which fits the culture. Native Americans have big hearts for acting in a selfless manner, which the title suggests. The bar is the closest thing to the representation of the population, since it holds large gatherings filled with Native Americans. Overall, the author is attempting to show the various qualities of Native American Life through the use of symbolism.
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In the story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” we see that the story is an allegory for the plight of Native Americans and reveals the struggle that Jackson was really going through. It is revealed early on that Jackson is a homeless alcoholic who lives day by day and do not have many people by his side. Also, every time he gets money, he feels the need to spend it when he should be building it up. When when he won $100 from the scratch off, he decided to give one of his bills to Mary because she is a Native American. He cares about other people which shows that he means well and has a good heart. I found it interesting how the narrator mentions the fear from history and Christopher Columbus. This gives the notion that they are treated bad the white people and realize that it has stemmed from many years before. The Regalia an object that connects Jackson with his past and his tribe, and most importantly his Grandmother. He identifies that he is the yellow bead in the middle He still feels the pain from her passing, and he loves the Aleuts singing because he feels that he can relate to them in the songs. The ending was heartwarming for me because the worker gave Jackson the Regalia for free because of how hard he worked to try and get the money. Jackson did not want it for free because he felt that he had not earned it, but then realizes that there are some really good people in the world who actually care about one another.
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I think the best way to address the allegorical significance of the story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie would be the examine the characters themselves, the Aleutians for example, represented the how individuals can easily be lost in our consumer culture and those who have more traditional upbringings may feel lost or out of place. This is especially true for Native Americans throughout their time in contact with European and Western cultures, for example the Cree, Creek and Seminoles all had intense conflict either internally (dealing with modernization) or externally (with the US) in part because of the encroachment of an alien way of life. As these Aleutians are instead of wanting to be part of Western society are trying to get back on “their” ship which in part symbolizes going back to their roots to take them back to their more traditional culture. Alexie’s plight to find his own identity, ties into this, as an unfortunate cost of consumer culture is that there is a profound lack of foundation in history and actual culture that binds individuals to one another and helps provide tools for individuals to shape their identities. Jackson’s grandmother’s Regalia is a manifestation of both the past but also the alternative to this consumer culture that many find themselves in, Jackson’s companions chose to continue living in a society they did not feel attached to while Jackson struggled onward to help grip to something tangible. Hence that in part is the reason why Rose and Junior both passed away during the story, as they never found a environment to thrive in and would succumb to the toxicity of consumer culture. Jackson’s regalia on the other hand is the alternative, to look toward the past for inspiration and build upon it to help create new traditions and tools to for Native Americans to shape their identity.
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The short story, “What You Pawn I will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie is an allegory for the struggles that the Native Americans have faced, as well as a representation of his life. Throughout the story, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans revealed. It shows the bar fights, emphasizes their tendency to spend money on alcohol, their lost nature, and their abandonment of each other, and the closeness they all share. The character Jackson Jackson shows all these characteristics through his efforts to purchase his grandmothers Regalia. To Jackson, the Regalia is more than just a sentimental purchase, but it represents his identity, which was stolen from him. It is his connection to the past, and in his mind, it is the perfect way to restart. This is the way that Jackson is connected to Alexie. Jackson is searching for his identity all over the place by trying to blend in with others, and take care of others to make himself feel better. This indicates that Alexie was also struggling in finding an identity, and the story is one way he coped with searching for it. Additionally, the Regalia is an object that tells the history of the family that owns it. Jackson’s quest to obtain his family’s lost Regalia is another indication of Alexie’s efforts to discover more about his identity. The Aleuts in the story play a big part in Jackson’s quest, they not only sang songs of family for him, but they also shared a meal with him. They were people that caused Jackson to refocus on what was going on, and what was important to him, and most likely would be added on in some aspect to the Regalia. This fits the end of the story with Jackson obtaining the Regalia, which finally connects him to the past and identity that he longed for throughout his entire life.
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The story “What You Pawn I will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie is an allegory of plight for Native Americans. You see this in the main character Jackson who is a homeless alcoholic living on a day to day basis in the streets of Seattle. In the story you see how he has the internal goal of earning nine hundred ninety-nine dollars for his grandmother’s regalia. However, despite this all the money Jackson earns ends up being spent on or given to others. This shows the plight of Native Americans because his struggles is a shared struggle with all other Native Americans who he is more than willing to help despite his own personal goals and needs. I think the regalia represents Jacksons culture and who he is as a Native American. You can see this in how he is always mentioning his family and their culture. This is also reflected in his distrust of the plains Indian who did not identify with a specific trade because he is hiding his cultural identity that has such a strong pull on Jackson. I think this regalia relates to myths and storytelling because it is a piece of the past and more importantly the past of his family and people. Myths generally focus on the past as well as storytelling which creates the connection between them and the regalia. In regards to myth and storytelling the Aleuts don’t have regalia, but they do have songs which was their way to identify with their cultural path just like the regalia is Jacksons way to connect with his culture.
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Sherman Alexie’s “What you pawn I Will Redeem,” follows Jackson Jackson, a homeless Native American and his attempt to earn money in order to purchase his grandmothers regalia that he saw in a pawnshop. This short story is an allegory for plight of Native Americans and a reflection of his own struggles with his identity. Throughout his journey to obtain money, Jackson Jackson encounters numerous others like him, other homeless Native Americans, and through his eyes and story we are able to experience the plight of the Native Americans. His regalia represents his culture and identity as a Native American, like it was stolen from his grandma and family, his culture and identity was stolen from him, and it is up to him to work towards maintaining it. Many of the problems Jackson Jackson faces are problems Alexie has faced himself such as alcoholism, which is also another struggle of the Native American people along with their overall lower socioeconomic position. They do not have a lot of power or say and are at risk of losing their culture, the regalia and all it’s myth and lore that surround the proud Native American is starting to fade, as the state of the Native American’s in this story is far from that and they face much adversity and know how far their positions have degraded from the myth’s of the proud Indian. The pawn owner handing the regalia back for free shows that its in the native american’s hands to truly try to regain their culture and identity, but it is the white man who determines whether they should give it back or not.
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This short story is a good representation of the work that Sherman Alexie presents to his audience. Many of his stories and ideas come directly from his past experiences, and that is one reason why many people relate to and enjoy his work. In the short story, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” a reader can see Alexie’s personal experiences that directly affect the story. Alexie uses the main character Jackson Jackson to portray an image that Alexie feels needs to be expressed for people to see. It shows that Alexie was directly affected by the degraded living conditions of native Americans when he had to leave his reservation to attend a school that would allow him to go to college. Alexie understands that Native Americans do not have the best conditions available for them, and he shows this idea though his character in the story. His struggles are directly reflected through his characters experiences. In the story, Jackson’s mission is to get his grandmothers regalia back into his possession, despite being homeless and broke. The regalia more than likely has history behind it. Him trying to gain possession of his grandmother’s regalia represents Jackson trying to regain connection to the Native American ties that he would like to have again. Jackson, being in the current position he is in, does not feel the connection with his heritage that he desires. This disconnect that Jackson feels is something that Alexie also felt and experienced as he went through his life.
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Sherman Alexie’s short story “What you Pawn I will Redeem” tells the story of a displaced Native American man, Jackson Jackson, part of the Spokane tribe, who ends up homeless in Seattle. Alexie’s personal storytelling allows himself to identify with the character’s struggles and allows him to elaborate on the concept of Native American struggles. Upon the chance discovery of his grandmother’s regalia in a pawn shop, Jackson seeks to purchase it from the pawn shop owner despite his lack of money. The regalia, according to Cadet Grabher’s presentation, “reminds him of how his grandmother taught him to treat others like family” (Grabher). This idea is repeated throughout the story; whenever Jackson acquires money, which the reader assumes he will save for purchasing the regalia, he always spends it on other people, whether that be buying drinks for other Native Americans in a bar or by buying breakfast for the Aleuts on the docks. This moral based idea of his grandmother’s lesson is found in myths from around the world. Myths attempt to explain the unknown world and give guidance for how to act in it. Each culture has their own prevalent myths and his grandmother’s story acts as one such myth. Asking the Aleuts to sing their own songs not only shows the character to be interested in cultures, but the insistence at which he asks shows that he may not be completely sure of his own identity as a Spokane. Seeing him ultimately obtain the regalia of his mother serves to finish the story. He has been reunited with his family though the other aspects of his life remain unsure; he still is homeless, and his friends have left. However, it is left to the reader to believe he is fulfilled by the reconnection of this family link.
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Although there are many plights in “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, I think the one that is most present in the story is Native American’s struggle with alcoholism. Alcoholism is a major problem in Native American culture today. In the story, the effects of alcoholism are shown in the story through Jackson Jackson. When Jackson Jackson is tasked to make a thousand dollars in one day, he gets to work to figure out how he will make it. He figures out a few different ways and makes a bit of money off those ways, but everything he makes he spends on alcohol. The next morning, he wakes up on the train tracks, blacked out drunk, and with the same amount of money he started with. This shows that because of alcoholism, Jackson Jackson cannot get anything done. Jackson Jackson’s ultimate search for his identity ends when the pawnbroker gives Jackson Jackson the regalia for free. The regalia in the story represents Jackson Jackson’s past and where he came from. It reminds him of his tribe and his family and gives him the identity he has been searching for the whole story. This relates to storytelling because they both do similar things. Storytelling is another way for Native Americans to find their own identities. It reminds them of their tribes’ history and the things they believe in. This is proven by the three Aleuts because they sing tribal songs that relate them back to their tribes and their identities.
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In Sherman Alexie’s story, What You Pawn, I Will Redeem”, the main character, Jackson-Jackson struggles with his identity. Jackson-Jackson’s struggle is an allegory for the plight of Native Americans. Throughout American history, Native Americans have been oppressed because of the aspect that their original homeland has been stolen away from them. I believe that the author, Sherman Alexie created Jackson-Jackson as a homeless person to represent the Native Americans. A homeless person is defined as someone who once had a residence/ a place to stay, but then they have lost stable shelter; thus, making them homeless. Jackson-Jackson’s grandmother’s regalia represents how Jackson-Jackson and many other Native Americans who have an immense desire to be connected to their roots. Jackson-Jackson is on a quest to do anything and whatever it would take to win his grandmother’s regalia back from the pawnshop owner. I view the pawnshop owner having the regalia as symbolic to how in history, America has taken away and stripped Native Americans of their heritage. Native Americans are on a quest similar to Jackson-Jackson’s quest to take back what rightfully belongs to them. The ending of the story was profound. When Jackson-Jackson finally gets the regalia back from the pawnshop owner, Jackson-Jackson goes into the street and dance with the regalia on. I saw this as the triumph for the Native American people when they finally take some of their rights and heritage back. Native Americans will celebrate and publicly show the world how they are becoming reconnected to their roots.
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The short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is a replication of the life of the author, Sherman Alexie, through the lens of of Jackson Jackson. Jackson Jackson is a homeless Indian from the Spokane Tribe. He left his tribe to go to college in the white mans world. While Alexie did not end up homeless, Jackson Jackson did. Although their lives don’t align exactly, Alexie and Jackson’s lives seem to be somewhat intertwined. The main theme in the story relates to the regalia that Jackson Jackson sees in a pawn shop. He sees the regalia and immediately realizes it was his grandma’s. Although he never actually saw the regalia on his grandmother in person, he recognizes it from pictures. Because Jackson’s grandma held such an importance to him, he decides he will embark on a twenty four hour journey to get the money to buy the regalia. The only problem is it costs $999, and Jackson is homeless. Just like Jackson, Alexie had a strong bond with his grandmother. Both Alexie’s and Jackson’s grandmothers passed away when they were at an early age, which also points to the character’s similarity to Alexie. Overall, the regalia holds the most importance in the story because it forces Jackson Jackson on a journey. It relates him to the spirits, or the mythological believes of him and his tribe. His journey represents the struggle of Indians both because of the white man and because of other things such as alcoholism. Eventually, Jackson brings all his money to the man in the pawn shop. He has $5 for what costs $999. For once, the white man is not hateful to an Indian, and in a moment of extreme success, Jackson get the regalia. He throws on the regalia and immediately feels the connection to his heritage and his grandmothers spirit.
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The story “What you Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie tells of a Native American man trying to salvage the last tangible piece of his culture. This takes the form of the man, Jackson Jackson, trying to buy his grandmother’s stolen regalia from a pawn shop. Throughout the story, we see not only Jackson Jackson, but many other Native American characters struggling as well. Many characters, Jackson Jackson included, seem stuck, longing for the past tradition of their ancestors. In this way, we see the plight of the Native American, stripped off their livelihood and tradition they held for hundreds of years. Native American myth making is also very central in the story. It seems that whenever Jackson Jackson leaves another Native American he always heard some crazy rumor about where they ended up. The reader is left to wonder if these rumors actually came from somewhere, or if he is simply adding his own take on the story. The writer, Alexie, also conveys his own conflicts with his identity. Native Americans are often classified into a broad group, but each tribe has its own identity, tradition, and culture. This conflict is seen every time Jackson Jackson generalizes an action or behavior as an “Indian” thing. Because of their common disenfranchisement, it seems that many of the Native Americans come together to survive, such as the scene with Jackson Jackson and his “cousins” at the bar. Despite their coming together, they all originate from very different cultures. Alexie highlights this identity dilemma in his story.
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I found Sherman Alexie’s short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” to be very meaningful. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced some Native American Culture in my hometown of Bozeman, Montana, going to pow wows and talking to Native American friends. Something that has stuck out to me is Native American’s strong ties to their tribe. In a lot of cultures, people have no problem leaving for college and not coming back, but I think there is more pressure for Native Americans to stay on the reservation because of how that affiliation forms their individual identity. This is similar to Alexie’s story because the main character has trouble leaving his grandmother’s regalia because it is tied to his identity. Identity formed by the tribe also comes out when the main character question’s the Plains Indian because he is unusual in that he doesn’t claim a specific tribe. I have read Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and the same theme of identity being tied to the tribe and reservation comes up. When Alexie decided to go to school off the Spokane Reservation, he faced a lot of backlash from other Native Americans saying that he was deserting his own people. In the short story, the grandmother’s regalia has more meaning than just tying the main character to his people because it also holds spiritual meaning. Native American regalia is passed down generation to generation and with it are passed stories and dances. Different regalia is meant for different dances, each with a different purpose. For example, I saw a video of an eleven-year-old jingle dancer from a Salish tribe dancing to heal corona virus. The point being, the regalia meant more to the main character than we can understand because we don’t know what it was for. I really thought the ending of the story fit this well because the pawn shop salesman understands that he can’t put a price on the man’s grandmother’s regalia.
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I think that in “What you Pawn, I Will Redeem,” is an allegory of the strife of Native Americans in American History because time and time again their heritage has been taken from them, and “pawned” away similar to the way Jackson Jackson’s representation of his heritage, in the form of his grandmother’s regalia, had been pawned. Similar to the way Jackson Jackson had to unfairly try to earn back what was rightfully his, America has forced Native Americans away from their heritage, forcing them to struggle to identify themselves and earn back through their strife their identity which was rightfully theirs and therefore should not have to be earned back. I think that this also represents Alexie’s struggle with his own Native American heritage because like Jackson Jackson he left the reservation and therefore felt a loss of his connection to his heritage and possibly like Jackson has been on a round about wild goose chase for to obtain an identity to his heritage, which again is represented by the regalia in the story. So I believe Alexie is representing his and the rest of his people’s chase of their heritage which is the regalia that Jackson Jackson continuously takes two steps forward and one step backwards to earn back. I think that the regalia is representative of that heritage due to what a significant role regalia plays in Native American tradition and mythology. The regalia is the connection to the Native American heritage for Jackson Jackson and Alexie in that it is the key to the myths and stories of their ancestors.
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Jackson Jackson presented by Alexie in his story is partially himself. The author describes Jackson Jackson’s struggle with new reality, because he himself had gone through this before. They are also connected by the desire to find their own identity. Presented regalia is a reference to his heritage, sold just like regalia. Furthermore, Jackson Jackon grandmothers’ regalia represent homesickness. The main character is homeless, we can interpret it literally, he does not have a place to live in, but we can also relate it to the whole Native American community – they were deprived of their natural home. Another reference to the whole Native American community brought by the author is an alcohol. Old Indians used herbs to intoxicate to begin their spiritual journey and connect with ancestors – ghosts of the past. Today an alcohol is a substitute which enable to feel the connection with the past, with Indian heritage and with home. Jackson does not set great goals in his life, but when he saw his grandmother’s regalia it changed. Regalia became not only the symbol of his origin but also the task that drives and motivates him. However, the task turns out not to be easy, because alcohol addiction recedes him from the goal.
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