In Sherman Alexie’s short story “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, the narrator resembles Pat in the movie Silver Linings Playbook (2012).
The narrator throughout “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”
constantly describes memories of him and his girlfriend; arguments and
fights for the most part. He states how his girlfriend did not trust him
and how angry they would get at each other. This character reminded me
of Pat in the movie Silver Linings Playbook, because they both are always recalling memories of their former relationships, and a vast amount of the memories are bad.
In Silver Linings Playbook, Pat’s
wife cheats on him and he persistently speaks of the incident and is
always talking about his ex wife. He ultimately talks about how his wife
was always angry with him for not being more motivated and
compassionate with her. Likewise in the short story “The Lone Ranger and
Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, the narrator states that whenever he gets
in arguments and fights now he is reminded of his ex girlfriend almost
every time.
Not only do both of these characters speak of the verbal arguments they
get into, but also the more physical fights they encountered with them.
In Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”,
the narrator says that “she and I would argue and I’d break a lamp, just
pick it up and throw it down.” In the movie Silver Linings Playbook,
Pat recalls the time he saw his wife cheat on him, how he beat up the
man whom she was with, and how he threw everything and slammed
everything to the ground. Both of the characters show struggles
throughout the book and movie in similar ways. They seem to have several
sleepless nights, especially the narrator in “The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven”, who states that “It may take hours, even years,
for me to sleep again.” Both Pat and the narrator walk compose
themselves with a sort of emptiness, mourning over their former lovers,
and repressing the ugly nightmares to which they seem to be reminded of
day to day.
Madeline, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, and I loved the connection that you made with the movie "Silver Linings Playbook" and the story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." Your relation to the two was spot on, and I agree with you on the fact that in both plots, the fighting results in some physical force, whether its throwing something or breaking a lamp. Regarding both the story and the movie, you mentioned that each husband is left thinking about his wife all the time, and I agree with that as well. I share your same views, and I enjoyed and related to the post very much.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I had never heard of the movie "Silver Linings Playbook". However this did not stop me from understanding the connection that you made with it and "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". I agree that the story mainly consisted of the protagonist bringing up past memories about his ex. I am not sure if that means that he still has feelings for her, or if she really impacted him in such a negative way. Since I have not seen the movie before I can not speak on much about it, but it does sound interesting. What intrigues me the most about both are the titles though. Overall I can see the connections between the two, you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteThe connection between “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, and Silver Linings Playbook is understandable. However, the story seems to focus on the race relation and issues between the Native Indians and Caucasians. The narrator feels that he does not belong anywhere, even at the Indian Reservoir. Your connection between the movie and the short story is plausible, but there is more depth to the narrator’s fight with his girlfriend. Their constant argument appears to correlate with his feeling of being in outcast in his ancestors land. The narrator left his girlfriend in the story after having a dream of being killed for dating his girlfriend because he is Native Indian and she is Caucasian. While in the movie the characters dispute is caused by Pat’s inability to move pass his wife’s cheating and other relationship problems.
ReplyDeleteIn " The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" and Silver Linings Playbook Both of these characters share the obvious similarities. They both share arguments with their other halves. They also share the part where they both start to break things when they get mad. These two characters also both struggle in similar ways with very similar problems. Due to their circumstances they also start to have sleeping problems. So I guess that I can understand where you came from with the relationship between these two pieces of works. THEY do share many qualities and can be grouped together. I also really like how you found the connection also.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Madeline, I have never seen this movie but you pointed out a clear connection that relates to one aspect of the short story. In the short story, " The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfights in Heaven", the narrator does struggle greatly with the fact that him and his girlfriend get into way too many fights and they end badly. I have the same opinion with you on the note that both men verbally and physical react to this situation in rage, whether it is beating up a person or just breaking a lamp. This makes the main characters in the short story and the movie very similar in personality. I thought it was amusing when the narrator in the short story stated that after a while his girlfriend would buy cheap and worthless lamps because she already knew that they would fight within the next few days and he would break the lamp. Both essentially are feeling lost in their life and do not know what to do within their relationships.
ReplyDelete