Uncovering Your Black Eyes Essay Research Paper

Uncovering Your Black Eyes Essay, Research Paper

Uncovering Your Black Eyes

The film Smoke Signals is in fact a Native American coming-of-age story, but can also be related to the African American bild.ngsroman . The film shows the viewer how the protagonist is handed all kinds of burdens and issues of pain, to himself and his people. Throughout the film you see how the main character Victor, learns to how to deal with the issues one at a time. You see him grow, and become more mature in his views. Relating him to the bild.ngsroman makes it easier for the viewer to see these changes. Out of the seven emergence the ones that fit Victor and his friend Thomas are; the character engage in some form of artistic production. Protagonists reflect on world around them. Protagonists turn inward and reflect upon themselves, and protagonists engage in the project of self-fashioning.

The main character Victor has had some serious issues in his life. From a very young age he has had to deal with his father.s drinking, leading to his disappearance. Victory is a angry child seeking answers to his long lost questions. He looks around and sees the reservation that has been given to his people, and he is angry. Angry for what has happened to his people, angry for what has happened to his family, and most of all angry for what has happened to himself. As the movie goes on we see that Victor finds answers; not to everything, but to a large majority of his questions. The experiences he encounters changes his views on life, and on the people around him. Thus proof that this is a true coming-to-age story. From using the bild.ngsroman we the viewers can track the key parts in the film to see when these vital character changes occurred.

Artistic productions lead a large roll in all Native American tribes. One artistic property the Spokane Indians have is the art of story telling. One of the main reason this art is so widely used is because all they have left are stories. They have been striped of everything; their land, their way of life, and their pride. So the only thing they have left of their culture is the art form of story telling. In this movie the protagonist Thomas leads in the art of story telling. Thomas does not seem to see what is going around him. He knows he lives on a reservation, and he knows that this is not the setting his people belong in, but something inside him make just calms him, and brings his stories out. Thomas leads a large roll when it comes to Victor. Victor always thought Thomas was a two breaded, 70.s disco suit wearing dork. He never took the time to listen to Thomas.s stories, or to try to understand the truth behind them. He never tried to relate to what Thomas was saying about the world around them. If he did from the start Victor would have been more open minded from the beginning.

Protagonists reflect on the world around them. This emergence clearly relates to Victory, and how he sees the world. From this we can see when Victor views on the world mature, and change. Victor has always looked at the world around him in a negative way. He really didn.t have that great of an upbringing, and a large part of him blames himself for his father leaving. .Victor has to first learn the truth about what is eating away at him, only then will he see the world for what it really is.. (Smoke Signals Review) This emergence also has a lot to do with the Indian tribe it.s self. Most tribes look at the world in a different way. .Indians see trees as living things, they don.t see a stack of paper like the white man.. (Indian Boyhood) Maybe that is why Thomas does not get upset when he looks around. He feels that getting upset about what has happened to him people will do him no good. After a while this starts to rub off on Victor, he starts to see his father in a different way. His fathers ashes was a perfect example. Those ashes show two things about Victor, they showed that he has gained respect for Thomas, and he has regained respect for his father. Giving Thomas half of his fathers ashes was a huge step in their friendship. Before their trip, when Thomas talked about Victor.s father, Victor would get angry. He didn.t like the fact that someone else had fun with his father, when he didn.t. He never thought about Thomas.s feelings, and if Thomas missed his father. That is what those ashes symbolized, it was Victor growing, he was leaving the pig headed stubborn side behind. It also showed the respect that has been given to his father. Victor blamed everything on his father, he had so much rage and anger built up he never saw his father for what he was. When he took his father.s ashes and set them to rest at the bed of the river, that was a sign of respect. The Spokane Indians were fishers, they got everything from the water. The river was the most sacred thing the tribe pussiest, and that was where Victor took his father. This just showed how he has grown throughout the movie, and the level of respect he has created for his father, and for Thomas.

Protagonists turn inward and reflect upon themselves. This can be used with both Victor and Thomas, and how Victor learned this from Thomas. Thomas has always done this, even when he was a little kid he has always looked within and then reflected upon it. What do you think his stories were about. He would close his eyes, look deep within and find a story to match what he was feeling. Story telling