Alexie- Government

Deborah Adekoya

This system of government/rulership is a discriminatory one that has many characteristics that indicate what type of government it is. The main characteristic I identified is the “no real justice” so basically the unjust characteristic. We see this in “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” when the people in the courtroom made a commotion and the judge wanted to get back to the “administration of justice” and Thomas asked “Is that real justice or the idea of justice?” In this, we see that justice is in question on whether it will be true and real justice. The other characteristic is inequality, we see this because Thomas has to defend himself, and on top of that, the judge is not even willing to see his point of view. We see evidence of the judge discriminating against Thomas when Thomas tells the judge that he in fact does not understand his charges. The judge responds that since Thomas has now decided to speak that proves that he actually does understand. From a reader’s point of view, this makes absolutely no sense. One can only assume the judge said this because Thomas is an Indian and the judge doesn’t see the need for Thomas to know his charge because he is already guilty. The justice system has no mercy or compassion for Thomas. He is a native American man of color, living in America at a time when racial discrimination was at its peak, the justice system definitely was not built to favor him. This is why I think Thomas decided to tell stories in court rather than actually defend himself. He knew the outcome of the case before the case started. I feel like everyone did.