Reader response Indian Killer

I found the Indian Killer to be an interesting book. I liked how easy it was to follow; the characters were very real and relatable.I see the discrimination that Sherman Alexie was trying to show us; however I also saw unreasonable fear of something or someone different. In his book the whites are afraid of the Indians and the Indians are afraid of the whites. It is that kind of unreasoning fear the can and usually does turn into hatred and prejudice. I believe that it is this kind of fear and hatred that helped spark some of the violence in this book. This fear and hatred is not limited to being between races, Indians hate and distrust between the different tribes. The Crow hate the Apache, the Apache distrust the Hopi, and it just keeps going. Indians tend to be forced to choose between being "Indian" and receiving an education that can improve their lives. If they go to school and try to succeed in the "white" world they are treated as less than the ones that drop out of school and learn and live by the old ways. You can see this in more than just the Indian culture; it happens in almost every there is. The ones that try to blend are pushed out by their own race and the ones that hold on to and follow their heritage are treated badly by general society. Hatred is also driven by desire. The desire to be something you are not because you think they have it better. The Indians in this book thought it was easier to be white and the whites thought that is was better to be Indian with their history and sense of self.
I think that there were really two killers in this book; there was John Smith and then there was the spirit of the repressed Indians. John was the vessel that the spirit used to do the job in Seattle, and will now move on to another vessel.

Reader Response- Fear and Loathing

I struggled with this book, I had a very difficult time following the story line. I am an avid reader and it is hard for me to admit that a book is beyond my grasp; however that is how I felt while reading this book. While listening to the discussion in class I found that I had comprehended more that I had thought at first. I knew that I was grateful for never getting into the drug scene, but I now understand that I got more than that from the book. I realized that by using Las Vegas as a model he was telling us what was going on in a larger arena. There are the rags to riches American Dream winners, then there are the people who gamble on a dream and loose. They are the ones you find in North Vegas in the book, in the larger world they are the ones that are used up and left behind.
I did not care for this book and the reason for that is something that I can not fully explain. I think part of the reason is because I have never understood the urge to use drugs. When this book first came out as a movie I tried to watch it and left the room after about ten minutes. It just makes no sense to me. I can pull bits and pieces out that make some kind of sense but not much.

The Quintessential 21st Century American

I feel that the average 21st century American can be called technology addicts. We have become dependent on technology for almost everything. Instead of going out to see our friends and family, we call them or go online. Almost everyone carries a cell phone. Most people have a computer, with internet access, either at home or a laptop that is carried with them. These devices tend to limit the amount of face to face interactions. We can even attend college via the internet and never even see the teacher.We used to have to learn how to write a sentence, using correct punctuation and grammar; in today's world we have word processing programs that tell us when we have a sentence fragment or something similar. Spelling is corrected automatically or with spell check. I myself am guilty of doing this; I am not a very proficient speller and use the spell check quite often. Our youth spend more time playing video games and texting then they do with their families. There is an epidemic of obesity in the children of today's society, a lot of which is due to the reliance of electronic devices to be babysitters.

What is the American Dream?

I believe that for most of us the American Dream is the same as it has always been. We want a family, a home, and a stable income. In today's world all of these are harder to come by. There are too many turn to divorce or infidelity instead of taking the time to work on the problems in the marriage. With all the problems with the economy these days, a stable job is hard to come by which makes owning a home a harder dream to make come true. For some people the American Dream is more abstract; a feeling of safety, peace, or freedom. The ability to be who and what they have always wanted. For these people the right to pursue what makes them happy is the dream, not the acquiring material items. This is what I think of when thinking of the American Dream, the freedom to follow our dreams and being protected while doing it. I am taking advantage of that freedom now in my own life, I have returned to school after 17 years. I am pursuing my dream of becoming a teacher.