Heritage as an Idea of Oneself in Bless Me Ultima and The...

Heritage as an Idea of Oneself in Bless Me Ultima and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Traveling through humanity is a never-ending story. Traveling through ethnicity is an ever changing journey. Is race or culture a matter of color? Is it a way of life; or a decision an individual makes? Is it an idea one has of themselves? In the novels, Bless Me Ultima (Anaya 1972) and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (Alexie 1993), two different minority characters, Tony and Victor, give voice to their journey of growing up and finding their place in the world in regards to their heritage. The characters, in Anayas and Alexies novels, relate to a dominant culture, pursue balance in their life by†¦show more content†¦Given these two choices, Tony feels he must choose between them. Anaya introduces Tony to a different culture, as he enters school; there he meets the white dominant culture head on. Tony, now blends a third culture into his life. Tonys heritage offers him two ways of being a Spanish-Mexican-American; in Alexies novel, Victor strives to be an Indian, period. Victor’s culture, being different from Tonys, breeds different cultural problems. Victor, a Native American Indian, in Sherman Alexies The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, searches daily for ways to survive being Indian. Victor lives in a white world that continually divests him of the privilege of his heritage daily. The ordinary daily erosion damages Victor--and the Native American--the most. Alexie writes, . . . its almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass murder, loss of language and land rights. Its the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldnt take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskins (Alexie 49). Victor needs to learn to survive the daily-ness, the ordinary and wants someone to show him how and says: . . . I have] to find out what it mean[s] to be Indian, and there aint no self-help manuals for that . . . (Alexie 211). As Victor wanders through the Native American cultural maze, somew hat aimlessly and alone, Tony is