Government

The “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie imply a particular type of government in the stories, which is inequality and prejudice. Inequality is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunities and that is being stated in both stories. In “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” Thomas Builds-the-Fire was charged for crimes that he did not commit and yet he was still sentenced to two straight lifetime sentences. In the second story “This Is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” poor Victor needed help from the government because his father died in Phenix, and the response of the government was right away saying “Now, Victor, we do have some money available for the proper return of tribal members’ bodies. But I don’t think we have enough to bring your father all the way back from Phoenix.” (Page 100) Because Victor was poor, the government did not care at all about his situation. At the same moment, prejudice (an assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person’s membership to a particular group) is also shown in both stories. While Thomas Builds-the-Fire was in a court, the judge was talking rudely to him as stated “The judge was red-faced with anger; he almost looked Indian. He pounded his gavel until it broke. “Order in the court,” he shouted. “Order in the f*cking court.”(Page 147) Thomas is only being arrested because he is attempting to inform people about injustices committed against Native Americans. Alexie engages Thomas to bring the tribe the truth and the government is frustrated because Thomas telling the true history of the United States.