Smoke Signals
I watched the movie Smoke Signals and enjoyed it very much. I liked seeing Gary Farmer, from Powwow Highway, again. I think he is a pretty cool actor. Anyway, Smoke Signals starts out on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation in 1976. One of the leading characters in the movie was Thomas. His parents celebrated America's Independence Day that year by throwing a huge party where everyone was suppose to bring their own fireworks. Gary Farmer, who plays Arnold Joseph in this film, ends up getting very drunk and mistakenly sets Thomas' parents house on fire while they were both passed out inside. The little baby Thomas gets blasted out of an upstairs window and Arnold miraculously catches him before he lands on the ground. We do not see this in the beginning, but Arnold also runs back inside to rescue his own son, Victor Joseph, who was the same age as Thomas at the time. Thomas says to Victor that they are children born of flame and ash. Thomas' parents died in the fire and he was raised by his grandmother. Arnold was so guilt ridden that he mourned the incident by chopping off all of his hair and vowing never to let it grow long again. Victor hated to see his parents drinking when he was young and
After the boys get in the car wreck and Victor runs all night long to get help, he collapses and when he looks up he sees his father. After this vision Victor is a lot nicer to Thomas, and I think the experience helped him to realize everything Thomas had been telling him along their trip. When the boys finally make it back to Idaho Victor gives Thomas some of Arnold's ashes. He realizes how much his father had also meant to Thomas and can accept that as the reason why Thomas was always pestering him about his father when they were children. Thomas tells him that he is going to make one more trip to Spokane Falls to dump the ashes in the river where Arnold will rise like a salmon. I think it was a very special symbol for Victor to give Thomas these ashes, especially since they were both "children born of flame and ash." One day Victor's mother gets a call from a Sue Song in Phoenix announcing that Arnold had died. Thomas offers to give Victor his money to get to Phoenix as long as he could go with him. They board a bus together and it is apparent that Victor has some street smarts while Thomas wants to be able to believe that everyone is good. Victor reminds me of Redbow, while Thomas is more like Gilbert from the movie Powwow Highway. Victor tells Thomas that he needs to look more like a warrior. He tells him he needs to free his hair because, "An Indian man ain't nothing without his hair." I think it is interesting that Victo
Some common words found in the essay are:
Thomas Thomas, Thomas Victor, Highway Victor, Song Phoenix, Victor Victor, Arnold Joseph, Spokane Falls, Thomas Arnold's, Smoke Signals, Victor Thomas, smoke signals, born flame ash, song phoenix, arnold died, house fire, father figure, spokane falls, victor father, sue song, children born flame, sue song phoenix, died fire, children born,
Approximate Word count = 980
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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