Smoke Signals essay

         The movie smoke signal showed the fact that Native Americans were poor. This is showed just by the conditions of the reservation Thomas and Victor lived on. Victor himself lived in a small home with no car, while others lived in small homes and trailers. One of their most celebrated foods was a bread,to show that they always couldn't afford meats and other foods. The two Native American females were riding in a car that could only go in reverse. This showed that the girls were too poor to get the car fixed, or there were no people on the reservation equipped to fix the broken car.  To afford their trip Thomas and Victor used the change that they had saved up.
 
     This movie showed that Native Americans were alcoholics. At the scene of Arnold setting the house on fire he was drunk, and killed Thomas's parents. Also, in the scene of the party Victor's mom and dad were both drunk with beers in their hands as well as everyone else. Victor saw his parents drunk all the time that he grew up to never drink. This shows Victor using his traditions of his family to help him be better. The movie showed that many Native Americans were abused and left by their fathers. Arnold left Victor and his mom because of his depression and drinking problem. Arnold leaving showed the saying when an Indian leaves home, he never returns.

          Victor believed that Native Americans should be warriors and look mean because of Native  American stereotypes. So when Thomas smiled and joked around it made him upset to see Thomas not acting as he should. Victor believing this showed that Native Americans themselves believed in stereotypes against them. Victor also told Thomas too let his hair down because a Native American is nothing without his hair. When Victor and Thomas first got on the bus they were looked dirty at. The people showed their prejudice thoughts just by their faces. The racist tensions were shown when the two white men at a stop took Victor and Thomas's seats. The white men felt empowered that they didn't have to move, and made the two boys move to the back. The racism battle was shown in the basketball game scene vs. the Christians. Victor missed the game winning shot and they lose to the Christians. This game symbolize the Native Americans battles in the past and losing to the whites.

   Victor finds power in their culture after cutting his hair to show mourning. Victor realized that his dad cared about him and saved his life. Victor realized that it was time to forgive and stop hurting people around him. This is shown when Victor runs miles through the night to save the woman in an accident.