Victor The Unchanging In Sherman Alexie's Short Story 'Indian Education'

Words: 890
Pages: 4

Maciej Szwoch
Sandra Beuchamp
Com 102
2/14/2016
Victor, the Unchanging

It is my strong believe that people do not change with time. They may mature, or become inert as the years pass by, however their fundamental ideals stay the same. Instead of changing a personality, the person instead evolves a trait making it more predominant, or they regress the trait, making it less predominant. This is similar to how a clay can be molded to appear different, but at the end of the day it is still a clay. Of course there are a few people who deviate, experiencing some sort of life altering event forever changing who they are, however for the most part people tend to stay the same. In the short story, Indian Education, by Sherman Alexie, Victor has
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When the character is first introduced, Victor is very negative. For example when one of his teachers tells him that he should be a doctor, Victor brings up his father’s heavy drinking, and his mother’s failure to finish a quilt. Victor continues this trend of negativity to counter-act with every positive thing that happens to him. When Victor has his first kiss, he later states that the girl is raped by her father. When Victor does well in a basketball game, he counters with negativity by bringing up his diabetes. Victor at one point becomes borderline suicidal stating “everything looks like a noose if you stare at it long enough” (Alexie 233). Victor is negative in the beginning of the story, and depressed towards the end. His outlook on life has not changed, rather it has progressed into an advanced version. Victor's perspective on life has not changed, indicating that he is a non-dynamic …show more content…
However this does not mean that he is a dynamic character, because at a young age Victor was an outcast in his tribe. Victor was often beat up as a young child, and only started to see success when he migrated to the white school. Victor's did not have a friend until the sixth grade showing how alienated he was from his fellow tribesmen. Furthermore, his friend, Randy originated from a white town meaning that Victor’s first friend was also an outsider in the tribe. Finally Victor’s first kiss was with a white girl as if to seal his fate, and abandon his tribe. All of these things show that Victor's moving to a white school was not a big change after-all. Victor was rejected by his own people, so he embraced the white people. According to an article published by livescience.com, it states “Migration is nearly universal within the animal kingdom... They migrate to adapt to imperfect habitats “(Parry). Victor's home was imperfect, so he adapted as if by instinct, by moving to a different school where he may find some more success in both his personal and educational life. In hindsight, Victor's decision to attend an all-white school was foreseeable from the very beginning of the story. This means that Victor is not a dynamic