Victor's family life is where many of his troubles begin. The story, " Every Little Hurricane," shows the irresponsible parental actions of Victor's parents: "...Victor was nine years old. He was sleeping in his bedroom in the basement of the HUD house... His mother and father were upstairs, hosting the largest New Year's Eve party in tribal history..." (1). Parents should not leave a young child unattended or on his own, especially on a special occasion such as New Year's Eve. He

and my auntie and Suzy Song both moved into the house with me to make sure I don't drink and to help take care of James" (124). This shows Victor's effort and optimism that was missing. Victor has linked himself to a realization that good can come out of life, if he were to try, and to make meaning out of what he has in life. Victor gives a positive meaning towards his family and to care giving for James. James serves as his outlet to cope with life and diverts his energy to caring for him, instead of looking to alcohol to set him straight. Victor enjoys his sobriety: "Been sober so long it's like a dream but I feel better somehow and Auntie was so proud of me..." (125). Instead of feeling his usual low self esteem, Victor has a sense of self. Victor makes sense out of his life, leading him to a conclusion that he can make something out of his life.

rantee change. But it was always empty" (5). Victor was kept aware that there is not much to do about the situation. There is a cycle, a repetition, that shows that perhaps they will not be able to escape the loop and that their pockets will never be full. Victor and his parents were faced with great hardships: "...his parents would be sitting...waiting out a storm...Unemployment and poverty" (5). He and his family are put into a situation they cannot get out of. Victor's parents wait and wait, but they do not take the initiative to move forward since society does not offer any support to do so. Not being able to do much about it, Victor sees that there is no hope. Without hope, there is no sense in life, therefore affecting Victor's self esteem.

ts on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer" (49). This emphasizes how one on the reservation perceives life, much like Victor, and not care much for life, but only care for what can ease his dealings with life. There is no optimism in life, nor any worth for what there may be to come and what good one can make out of situations. This also shows that the only medium for optimism is alcohol. Alcohol is used to cope with the outlooks towards life, since there is no hope for any positives in life. Victor is fully surrounded by his Native American community. In growing up in this community, these ideas and actions have easily influenced and affected Victor.

If there was any hope for success in the Native American people of Victor's community, there was no passion in the things that they did. There was no encouragement for anyone to succeed or become successful. They are shown to not have any motivation or ever accomplish anything that they start: "There's a definite history of reservation heroes who never finish high school, who never finish a basketball game" (47). Their inability to never finish anything that they start, is caused by the unwillingness to open their minds to an enriching environment and make use of their advantages. It is a sign of where and what they want to do with life. Victor is surrounded by all of these negative views in life. In the short story "The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore" there is an inference that shows why the Native American community has no hope, positive outlooks, or motivation for life: "It's hard to be optimistic on the

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2226
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)