Sherman Alexie's "What You Pawn I Can Reclaim"
What You Pawn I Can Reclaim is a story shared by Jackson, a homeless Spokane Indian living on the streets of Seattle. The story brings to light the truth of cultural emptiness. Living far away, learning away from home, there is a sense of being robbed of my cultural freedom, even though it is by invitation, in pursuit of education. The story's first line is, "one day you have a family, the next you don't." It evokes the vanity of possessions and how quickly they can vanish and become lost. The state of feeling accommodate and accepted anywhere is something that can be rubbed away in an instance. Everything we own is inevitably vain. The homelessness that is conspicuously depicted throughout the narration is a representation of the vanity of what we believe is always there. It also brings to light the struggles that we go through to have our identities. It depicts how we can be deprived of what is legitimately ours by being separated from the people of our own culture. The story tells of the basic human life that resonates with every rational human person (Gale 2006).
The Characteristics of American Literature
The characteristics that distinguish American literature is in the way it tries to bring to light the difference between Americans and non-Americans. It is a biased kind of literature that demeans the later. The culture of Americans looking down upon the outsiders is depicted by the American literary trends. The discrimination in most American literature is very popular. The characteristic depicts America negatively and denies the civilization that is conventionally linked to America.
The Future of American Literature
The writers of the 21st century in American literature are yet to appeal to the true image of the American identity since they all follow the trends that have been previously set by their predecessors. The future literature class will be forced to adhere to the to the image set by the writers as at now.
Works Cited
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. Cengage , 2006.
