Government

In both “The trial of Thomas Builds- the-fire” and “This is what it means to say Pheonix, Arizona”  Sherman Alexie alludes to a particular type of government/ rulership. Two characteristics of this system are discriminatory and unjust, both are seen evident when Thomas was on trial and they used the fact that he is Native American as grounds to charge. While Thomas was unsure of what he was being charged for, they decided “It has to be a felony charge. We don’t need this kind around here anymore”. This shows how little regard they have for Thomas and Native Americans in general. The system itself is discriminatory which creates unjust outcomes. Thomas can be seen as an allegorical figure because he is in his own right dealing with a discriminatory system as an individual but also representing Native Americans like him that deal with the same unjust treatment.