Literature often mirrors life. In "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," Sherman Alexie explores life by including generally recognized conflicts. Although typical, the conflicts that Victor encounters occur in more than one aspect of life at once and are all intertwined. Some are resolvable, but true to life, some are not.

The most apparent conflict in the story is the inter-personal conflict between Thomas Builds the Fire and Victor. As children, they got into a fistfight. As adults, though they would often see each other on the reservation but they would rarely speak to each other since Victor has learned to ignore Thomas. These types of disagreements between friends are commonplace

Yet, the conflict between Thomas and Victor leads to a more subtle struggle - the conflict that Victor has within himself. Victor seemingly fights Victor "for no reason at all." Later it is revealed that he was just drunk and angry. Due to Victor's internal frustration, he projects his anger onto Thomas. It is no anomaly in society for people to misplace their anger on someone else; especially someone perceived as weaker. Victor is irritated with Thomas, but not because of any wrongdoings on Thomas' behalf - it is simply because Thomas is a constant reminder of what he is not. Thomas is comfortable with himself while Victor is not. Moreover, Thomas is a living symbol of Native American culture; he is a storyteller, a role that holds much significance. An example of thi

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 526
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)