Introductory Reflective Essay

In high school, I was always considered to be an above-average student in all of my English classes. Lit was my strongest subject, and I excelled when it came to writing essays for all of my other classes. My confidence in myself as a writer was above that of anyone in my class. I came to UGA with this sense of self-confidence. I enrolled myself in the highest-level English class that I possibly could. This was a mistake. It turns out that I’m most certainly not the best of the best. I received a real shock when I received my grade on my first paper. But this blow to my pride inspired me to reevaluate myself as a writer–something that needed to be done.

A major handicap that I have in my writing is my propensity to repeat my major points to the extent where my paper becomes stale. In my first paper for Dr. Simrill’s English 1102 class, I was required to analyze a story from the course packet, while considering the author’s charting of the presence of light. My essay’s first draft was not nearly concise enough. I was extremely redundant and I didn’t do nearly enough analysis of Jackson Jackson’s journey as a modern Native American. So in my second draft I made sure to analyze how he “turns to distractions to alleviate his predicament.” I then went into analyze how JJ relied on alcohol and women to make himself feel better with references to textual evidence.

English 1102 pointed out yet another handicap in my writing this year that I had never even noticed. I came to the realization that I’ve never been able to really write a concise thesis. In my second’s essay first draft, which is an analysis of why Zach Galifianakis is so funny, my lack of a concise thesis is blatantly obvious. My first thesis was the following: “Zach Galifianakis’s humor is derived from his ability to joke about his appearance, his background, his childlike persona, and the manchild that he is.” This thesis makes no sense whatsoever. It’s redundant and it’s not concise in the slightest. I solved the issue of my thesis’s lack of clarity in my second draft by narrowing the statement down. I changed the thesis to say, “Zach Galifianakis is the boy who never grew up. His Peter Pan complex oozes into his stand-up routine; all it takes is a boyish grin and a childish joke to get the audience going. In a short period of time, Zach’s comedy has completely revolutionized stand-up. Most comedians stand in front of a microphone, tell a few corny jokes, and scram. Zach takes his sweet time working.” I feel like while my thesis is spread out over a few sentences, it is still much clearer than my first attempt.

In our third paper, the remix assignment, I recognized yet another flaw that I have as a writer. And that’s the fact that I feel like I have to talk about everything that has to do with my subject. When I say this, I don’t just mean that my thesis isn’t concise enough, like I mentioned before. I mean that in every paragraph, I feel the need to expand upon and analyze things that don’t need analysis. In the first draft of my remix paper, I spent an entire paragraph analyzing how the writers of SNL used a bubble machine in their interpretation of The Lawrence Welk Show. This paragraph was completely useless to my thesis. All I did was talk about how the bubble machine was used in both the original show and the adaptation. I ended up just cutting out the paragraph, and it resulted in the overall clarity of my paper.

Even though I didn’t fix all of my flaws as a writer this semester, I still feel like I grew a lot through all of my essays. I feel like in English 1102 I’ve been able to recognize my flaws as a writer; I’m no longer the cocky high school senior that thought she could write anything. I now understand that there are pinnacle points within my writing that are weak: sticking to the prompt, not being redundant, and constructing a concise thesis.

After writing the above analysis of myself, I wrote my biography. I tried to keep my flaws as a writer in mind as I outlined what I was going to say. In my biography I stick to a major theme throughout my paper and I try to keep my sentences concise. I mostly wrote about how my mom’s career has determined my life up to today, and how her choices have made way for mine. I think that by keeping a narrow thesis, my biogrphy is clearer than it would have been before writing my IRE’s analysis of myself as a writer.

Biography

My Life in a Nutshell.

Since my arrival at the University of Georgia, I have learned a lot of things about myself. For example, I’ve come to the realization of how different I am from many of my fellow classmates and how little we share. While many of my contemporaries have grown up together on the quiet suburban streets surrounding the Atlanta area, my life has taken me down many different roads.

Like many students here, my mother is an alumnae of UGA. She graduated in 1985, but instead of settling down here in Georgia–as many of the members of her graduating class did–she decided to pursue a career in television news. Her decision led to her moving acrossthecountry. This decision not only changed her life, but also the life of the daughter she was yet to have.

I was born in Phoenix Arizona, while my mom worked morning weather at the local ABC station. Within the first few hours of my birth I was on TV during the midday news. Her co-anchors referred to me as the “latest addition to Arizona's family.” From my first television debut as an infant, I went onto making appearances on my mom's morning show.

As I got older, my mom would take me to work with her more and more. While my classmates were playing on the swings at the local park, I was running tapes to the tape room on my razor scooter, volunteering to pet the animals they brought in on set, and helping out at my mom’s TV live shots; the newsroom was my personal playground.

When I was seven years old, I had my first spot as a kid reporter in Las Vegas for the world premier of “Rugrats in Paris” where I interviewed my first celebrity–actress Susan Sarandon. It was great fun in the newsroom but ended up being hard when we had to move. When I was in the third grade, my mom received the opportunity to work in San Francisco. This was a great chance for her career, but it resulted in us having to leave all of our friends.As an eight year old, thinking about losing all of your friends and having to make new ones in a new place is terrifying. The transition to San Francisco was not the smoothest, but eventually I started to fit in. I also was able to do fun things like fly in the News chopper over the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay.

Surviving middle school was a definite challenge, and, ironically, as soon as I was getting comfortable with my circle of friends, my mother made the decision to move once again–this time across the country. My mom accepted a job at the Weather Channel, forcing me to move to Atlanta, Georgia, right before my freshman year of high school.

Surprisingly, the move to the East Coast was much smoother than our move to California. I guess I was prepared for the worst after our first big move. I immediately took to the Southern hospitality that Georgia offered and fit right in with my freshman class. It was also after the move to Georgia that I realized how well suited I was to the “nomadic lifestyle” of a broadcast journalist. It’s been in the past four years, during my time visiting my mom at The Weather Channel, that I’ve decided that I want to pursue a career in journalism.

While it’s easy for me to say that I’m bitter that I’ve had to sever ties with old friends, I have to admit that moving for my mom’s job has given me more opportunities that some kids my age could never imagine. I’ve been able to score personal tours of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and see the set of SNL up close and personal because of my mom's strong NBC connections. I’ve been able to intern at The Weather Channel and run the teleprompter as an assistant to the OCM’s. Because of my mom’s career, I’ve been able to gain some real insight into the life of a broadcast journalist. Her success and love for her job has inspired me to one day follow in her footsteps.

Revision Exhibit

Revision of Paper 1: “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”: Jackson Jackson and the Native American Journey Towards Redemption

After consulting my journals and reviewing my first draft, I decided to focus on the following section of my first paper:

Jackson Jackson feels empty–even mentally deprived–from the very beginning of his narrative. His absent culture has left a part of him missing. He begins to explain his “mental problem” and how, while he is somewhat crazy, he’s not serial killer crazy. Jackson Jackson knows that something within him is not quite right. In reality he’s mentally anguished over being estranged from his heritage. After reasoning through the nature of his mental disorder, he goes on to say that he’s been disappearing “piece by piece”. Jackson Jackson seems to lack purpose in his life. However, he’s awakened from his spell of self-pity when he spots his grandmother’s regalia in the store window of a pawnshop. Jackson Jackson immediately feels connected to this regalia. It had been taken from his family years ago, and the need to win it back in his grandmother’s honor is overwhelming. But, although the regalia drives Jackson Jackson to want to be more connected to his culture, it doesn’t change his ways as a modern Native American.

I like how I explained Jackson Jackson's human nature in the above excerpt, but I'm a little bit redundant in my analysis. In my second draft of this section, I tried to trim out the unnecessary parts/repeated analysis:

Jackson Jackson feels empty–even mentally deprived–from the very beginning of his narrative. He states that he has a “mental problem” and how, while he is somewhat crazy, he’s not serial killer crazy. In reality, he’s mentally anguished over being estranged from his heritage. After reasoning through the nature of his mental disorder, he goes on to say that he’s been disappearing “piece by piece”. Jackson Jackson appears to lack purpose in his life. However, he’s awakened from his spell of self-pity when he spots his grandmother’s regalia in the store window of a pawnshop. Jackson Jackson immediately feels connected to this regalia. It had been taken from his family years ago, and the need to win it back in his grandmother’s honor is overwhelming. But, although the regalia drives Jackson Jackson to want to be more connected to his culture, it doesn’t change his ways as a modern Native American.

I decided that my third draft needed to be much more concise, with more in depth analysis:

Jackson Jackson feels completely empty–perhaps even mentally deprived–from the very beginning of his narrative. He concludes that he has a “mental problem” and how, while he is somewhat crazy, at least he’s not serial killer crazy. Jackson Jackson understands that he's not in the right state of mind. He recognizes that he’s mentally anguished over being estranged from his heritage. But there's no easy fix for this realization. After reasoning through the nature of his mental disorder, he goes on to say that he’s been disappearing “piece by piece”. Jackson Jackson appears to lack purpose in his life. However, after Jackson Jackson finds his grandmother’s regalia in the store window of a pawnshop, he begins to find purpose in his existence. Jackson Jackson immediately feels a connection with this regalia. It had been taken from his family years ago, and the need to win it back in his grandmother’s honor is overwhelming. He feels as though if he could gain it back, he could regain his sense of honor as a Native American. But, although the regalia drives Jackson Jackson to want to be more connected to his culture, it doesn’t change his ways as a modern Native American.

The problem with my writing is that I never seem to be concise enough. By my third draft, I feel like I cut out a lot of the redundancy. Hopefully this will make for a better, easier to read, paper. In my third draft I went more in depth of my analysis of Jackson Jackson's mental depravity and how he tries to solve his anguish through winning back his grandmother's regalia. The addition of this analysis should make the rest of the paper make more sense.

Peer Editing Exhibit

Shana Zani's paper:

Paper 2- Humor on Gabriel Iglesias

XXL Comedy

The extra extra-large Hawaiian shirts might not even size up to the comedic revolution Gabriel Iglesias is spreading worldwide. Great lead in! The stereotypical Mexican, white people, and redneck content are easy targets for Iglesias’ acts. "Caucasian" sounds more legit than "white people." But something else sets him apart from a majority of famous comedians. “You’re not fat, you’re fluffy,” his mother told him when he was a child. Unlike most children, he accepted it, and ran with it. Expand on this family dynamic. The extreme universalism of his content and acts is revolutionizing stand-up as we know it today by making his surprisingly non-offensive clean material hilarious.

In reference to all the cake he had brought home one night, Iglesias says “Well, eventually, I’m not going to eat it all in one hit. You know freaking two days later…... CLEAR (Thud)!” Post video clip of this... somewhat confusing. His crude reference to his own obesity and a heart attack in Chocolate cake Made Me Late capitalize cake is a creative way of allowing his mockery of obesity to the public. It would not have the same effect if a 100 pound man stood up on stage and poked fun at the obese; there would be quite a bit of hostility. For most, especially women, weight is a sensitive subject. Perhaps Iglesias’ ability to joke with the matter comes from a blend of his gender and his mother telling him young. Why is it funny when the 6XL man jokes about being fat though? Obesity and being overweight are issues that everyone knows Americans struggle with today. So when the 6XL man jokes about the struggle, it feels acceptable for the audience to react by laughing. Weight being an extremely relatable topic for many Americans is one causal factor to Iglesias’ act that constantly rivets his audience. Consider using a comma in the sentence above. Iglesias ran with his mother’s fluffy idea and based his entire unit of comedy on being Hot and Fluffy. Possessing the ability to joke about your own obesity in front of millions of viewers says something about a person. Iglesias retains a constant light heartedness about his weight and always has. Perhaps coming from his loving mother at a young age transformed his views on being overweight. -- fragment. Good family dynamics could surely be a firm root of his hilarity.

In Chocolate Cake Made Me Late, Iglesias’ act is based upon his girlfriend and his son. Not once does he mention brothers, sisters, or parents. After reading his interview with Marc Cabrera, it then becomes apparent that Iglesias struggles with a split life because of his comedy. The reason for his content lacking jokes about his parents and siblings is because his relationships with them are not joking matters. Because of his recent fame, Iglesias’ relationships with his immediate family have diminished. Explain. In the interview Iglesias vents by saying “Don't get me wrong, with my girl and my kid it's okay, but with my mom and siblings and other members of the family, it kind of sucks bro. Because they see me as something else now. I got a brother who calls me ‘Hollywood.’ Sisters kind of keep their distance. Even my mom is kind of like ‘ahhh’ with me. Yeah dude, it really sucks. And I wish things were different. Unfortunately, they don't understand everything I go through on a day to day basis to be able to maintain what I'm doing.” With a comedian, the audience is under the notion that everything in the comedian’s life is flawless because of his or her ability to be happy and hilarious on stage. With Gabriel Iglesias, it becomes apparent that a split life might actually be common and that struggle could also be a source of his joviality on stage. Great analysis.

Another component to Iglesias’ persona on stage stems from his universal content. What does that mean? In contrast to the majority of comedians, Iglesias promises that all of his content actually comes from personal experience either by himself or by observing friends. When pondered, that is actually an incredible gift. He takes his everyday life and is able to twist it and make millions of people laugh with a common narrative of his life experiences. Iglesias calls his content the embellished truth. "I hang out with funny, eccentric people. Then throw in a little alcohol, and you get some great stories," he says. Nice use of quote! His style of comedy and the way in which he obtains his material are key elements as to why his stereotypical impersonations are generally not offensive. His stereotypical Mexican and white woman impersonations are utilized in a way in which they cause laughter but not hostility among the audience. Is this because of his persona/looks? Elaborate... The majority of the content from other comedians such as Katt Williams, Dane Cook, and Chris Rock is developed from absurdities. Example? Gabriel Iglesias on the other hand creates his impersonations all from experience. In the clip, Iglesias portrays the conventional Mexican man not understanding where to drop off his son, which in reality, if A Mexican man does not speak English, he is not going to know where to drop off his son. In addition, the white woman impersonation could be viewed as accurate and non-offensive as well. Iglesias depicts the white principal with broken Spanish as a typical American probably would have. Video clip! If anything, Iglesias gives credit to the white woman for understanding the Mexican man and his fluent Spanish. When Gabriel Iglesias actually experiences all of the content he jokes about, it is very difficult to be offended by his work on stage.

The universalism to his content makes it possible to keep a loyal fan base. “That's why you have to take care of people on your way up, because if you take care of people on the way up, when you're on your way out, they'll make your landing a little bit softer,” Iglesias commented on his loyal fans. Iglesias makes it very easy for a fan to enjoy listening and watching an act of his. When the generally clean content is hilarious yet respectful, it is generally impossible to dislike. That's a matter of opinon... elaborate why clean content/ Iglesias's morals lead to amiable emotions. In the selected clip Chocolate cake Made Me Late, only two minor derogatory words are used; damn and hell, both in a playful context. Clean content is often funnier than content with a curse word every 3 or 4 seconds in the act. When a curse word is utilized properly in comedy, it throws off the audience which results in roaring laughter. Gabriel Iglesias does just that with his 1 to 2 curse word acts.

Gabriel Iglesias’ humor and content stems from many components. His universal content allows him to perform in Saliinas, Jordan and still receive roaring laughter in return. His split family and family dynamics give him part of his content and allows him to be aware of what he can write jokes about. His clean content sets him apart from a majority of comedians. His style of “funny reporting” from experience as he calls it, allows him to provide the audience with clean and non-offensive content. Finally, his ability to joke about his obesity creates a mood within the audience and viewers that leaves them wanting more. Don't just sum up your paper... more analysis!

MY PEER REVIEW:

Structure:

Shana's title attracted my interest because it tactfully revealed the topic of her paper. However, she definitely could have used an epigraph to introduce the content. I suggested using a quote of Iglesias's to kickstart the essay. The first line of her paper was memorable; it definitely made me want to keep reading. Shana's thesis wasn't completely developed or as narrow as it could be. However, the great thing about doing an essay on a stand up comedian, is that there's so much material build a thesis on. I told Shana that she should expand upon the idea of Iglesias's lack of vulgarity. She needed to insert some video clips of Iglesias's family friendly material! Shana's flow between paragraphs is well done–her transition sentences allow the paragraphs to meld together. I especially like the transition between the second and third paragraphs: Shana went from talking about his family to analyzing how he talks about his family.

The sentences included in the essay portion are concise and easy to read and there were no vague antecedents. Shana should, however, include some more visuals. I think that the essay would really benefit by incorporating some visuals of Iglesias on stage. These images would also add to the comedic tone of the paper. Shana carries the humorous tone throughout the paper which is perfect considering that the paper is about a stand up comedian. Shana does a great job of keeping the energy up throughout the piece, and her use of adjectives and describing words really keeps the audience's attention.

Mechanics:

Shana's tense use is consistent. The entire essay stays in present tense the whole time. Shana's use of punctuation is correct and she uses some great short sentences to pack a punch. However, Shana could use more vivid, active verbs in her paper in order to really convey the comedic tone.

Paper Three: A “Wunnerful” Adaptation

"The ones the listeners loved most of all in those early years were the four Lennon girls who became the whole nation's little sisters."

-Lawrence Welk

The Lawrence Welk Show is a piece of true Americana. With its big band music, charismatic emcee,and feature of the Lennon sisters, the program dominated the Top 30 charts for its first five seasons. It aired every Saturday night for 27 years. Who would have guessed that, decades later, another hit Saturdaynight program would adapt the Lawrence Welk Show into one of its most successful routines?

The creative minds of Saturday Night Live are always trying to come up with new material for their program. It was by someone's stroke of genius that they came up with the idea to adapt the Lawrence Welk Show into a comedic routine. The adaptation of the retro program had never been attempted before; it was a fresh idea and the SNL crew was ready to take on the task. Saturday Night Live's writers paid closeattention to detail in their recreation of the set, costuming, and characterization of The Lawrence Welk Show. For example, the Lawrence Welk Show always started off with it’s title– “The Lawrence Welk Show”– scrolled across the screen, with bubbles swirling around, as the program’s theme song played. Saturday Night Live uses almost the exact same opening to the original show for their skit. This gives theskit an authenticlook; it almost makes the audience believe that they’re watching a program from the1960’s–until a goofy Fred Armisen comes on camera as Lawrence Welk. Armisen’s costume looks exactly like Welk’s attire from the sixties. He wears a vintage checkered suit, a groovy tie, slicked back hair, and has a baton in hand.

Armisen's character of Lawrence Welk is further developed through his use of a fake German accent. Welk had a difficult time pronouncing the “th” and “d” sounds, so of course Armisen was directed to overdo the accent by shouting phrases that Welk frequently used such as “wunnerful, wunnerful” and “tank you all, tank you!” Armisen’s portrayal of Welk is spot on thank to his use of costuming and speech. Another way in which SNL adapts the characters of The Lawrence Welk Show is through their portrayal of the infamous “Lennon Sisters”.

The Lennon Sisters were a recurring act in The Lawrence Welk Show for years. The four sisters would come on stage and sing popular hits from the 50s and 60s. They were widely renowned for their beautiful voices– as well as their beautiful faces. While Saturday Night Live stays close to the original Lawrence Welk Show in respect to costuming, set, etc., this is the area where the writers branch out. Saturday Night Live changes the Lennon Sisters into the “Merrill sisters”.

These four sisters are the singing sensation of SNL’s adaptation. But something’s not quite right with one of them. The writers of Saturday Night Live thought it would be funny to have a clean adaptation with one small exception: one of the characters is completely different from the original. It’s funny because the entire show is changed just because of the altercation of one single character. SNL changed the youngest of the sisters into a physically and mentally “off” companion. Kristen Wiig plays “Dooneese”– the crazy sister.

While all of the other sisters sing lovely romantic tunes, Dooneese is in the background waving her freakishly small doll-like hands around, singing her own renditions. The contrast of the prim and proper sisters singing while the crazy one runs around on stage makes for an odd, yet funny, skit.

In fact, what makes the skit so hilarious is the oddity of it all. The Saturday Night Live writers took a random 1960s music television program and made it into something comedic; The Lawrence Welk show was never intended to induce laughter, but rather to just entertain. Saturday Night Live spun it into a whole different medium of entertainment. And on top of that, the writers added a character that has nothing to do with The Lawrence Welk show at all. Welk would never have allowed a young woman with physical or mental features such as Dooneese to ever work on his show. In fact, it has been said that Welk wouldn’t let anyone impure of body or mind to be apart of his “musical family”. The addition of Dooneese to the seemingly perfect quartet of sisters sets up a strange dynamic that undoubtedly ends in laughter. If Wiig’s character was not apart of the skit, there would be nothing to laugh at. The

skit would simply be a portrayal of the original Lawrence Welk Show.

Saturday Night Live’s adaptation of The Lawrence Welk show was a stroke of creative genius. Through careful thought to detail, the modern program was able to adapt the vintage show perfectly, while adding comedic flair. From costuming to characterization, the cast of SNL has been able to bring Lawrence Welk’s television show back to life in a new light.

Paper Two: The Genius that is Zach Galifianakis

That bushy beard. Those rosy cheeks. That sparkle in his eye. No, I’m not talking about Santa Claus; the above describes none other than the fabulous Zach Galifianakis. Zach Galifianakis is the boy who never grew up. His Peter Pan complex oozes into his stand-up routine; all it takes is a boyish grin and a childish joke to get the audience going. In a short period of time, Zach’s comedy has completely revolutionized stand-up. Most comedians stand in front of a microphone, tell a few corny jokes, and scram. Zach takes his sweet time working the stage. He even incorporates a variety of his other talents into his material.

Zach centers his main act on a grand piano at almost every stand-up show. Looking at Mr. Galifianakis, you would never know that he’s a beautiful piano player; he just has that unkempt look like he would have never kept up with lessons. But, surprisingly, Zach puts on a grandiose display where he plays the piano while giving his perspective on life; just watching the overweight, scruffy, man-child play the piano while sharing his own personal philosophy seems to send his audience into a state of hilarity. Even if it comes across as somewhat “classy” that he’s playing the piano, he dashes that notion by downing a glass (or two, or three) of beer as he plays. Zach has taken a leap of faith by playing the piano in his stand-up. Modern day comedians tend to stick to the main path by doing stand-up comedy “standing up”. But Zach clearly wants to be seen as an oddball–yet another reason to give him a chuckle.

Along with using the piano as a comedic tool, Zach also bases much of his comedy off of his looks. In his early career, Zach was clean-shaven and somewhat–and I say that generously–fit. It wasn’t until he grew out an unkempt beard and put on a couple pounds that his career took off. Zach embraces his sloppy appearance. In one of his bits he jokingly says that it’s hard for a guy who looks like him to get a table for one at Chuck-E-Cheese. He then says that before the show, he went to his stylist and asked for “the Amber Alert”. He knows that he looks like a crazy man; in fact, he embraces it. He knows that watching a skinny average white guy tell jokes isn’t funny. To stand out, he takes on the personality of a sloppy, yet loveable, jokester. His plan obviously worked. The unkempt appearance and child-like persona are what make him so funny.

Zach Galifianakis defies the normal tactics that most modern day comedian’s use in their routines. Many of today’s comedians use the superiority theory of comedy to make the audience laugh. Zach uses the complete opposite technique. He uses his looks as the basis of most of his comedy. His shaggy hair/beard combo, overweight frame, and short height all contribute to his quirky physical appearance. He embraces the fact that he does not think he’s better than anyone else. He’s different and that’s the way he likes it. If he makes a dig at anyone, he immediately brings the joke back around to how insane he is. His tendency to hold everyone above him makes him that much more likeable. It’s as though, even though he’s famous, he’s still a humble, regular guy. While comedians like Daniel Tosh poke fun at everyone and raise themselves above everyone else, Zach uses his inferior persona to win over the audience.

Among other comedic skills Zach utilizes in his routines are his variety of facial expressions and body language. Add together a hilarious appearance and a crazy looking stare and you have one aesthetically comedic man. During his performances, Zach will just stop talking and stare off into space. As he dabbles on the piano, he’ll philosophically glance around the room as if he’s in deep thought. This, paired with his persona, is a perfect recipe for a good laugh. All he has to do is raise an eyebrow and he’ll receive a barrage of laughter from his audience. The looks he gives are half of his comedy; it doesn’t even matter what he says. Zach also uses his body language for a comedic emphasis. He’ll stop playing the piano and just bury his face in his arms, or he’ll just lie down in the middle of the stage during one of his bits. Zach tries as hard as he can to shock his audience. The last thing he wants to be is a predictable comedian.
Zach’s combined use of physical comedy, boyish charm, and inability to offend the majority has sky-rocketed him into fame. His comedy is completely unlike anyone else’s. He’s unafraid to push himself to new levels of obscurity. Whatever it takes to get a laugh¬–whether it is banging on piano keys, or giving the audience a good, old fashioned stare down– Galifianakis is willing to do it.

Paper One: “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”: Jackson Jackson and the Native American Journey Towards Redemption

Human beings have an incessant need to feel “whole.” People strive endlessly to fill the inherent void within them;
with relationships, money, booze–whatever they feel will enhance their lives. Jackson Jackson is no exception to this part of human nature. Jackson Jackson’s narrative explains his quest to fill his void. He wants to feel like he is apart of his culture; and he does this by trying to win back his grandmother’s regalia.
Jackson Jackson feels empty–even mentally deprived–from the very beginning of his narrative. His absent culture has left a part of him missing. He begins to explain his “mental problem” and how, while he is somewhat crazy, he’s not serial killer crazy. Jackson Jackson knows that something within him is not quite right. In reality he’s mentally anguished over being estranged from his heritage. After reasoning through the nature of his mental disorder, he goes on to say that he’s been disappearing “piece by piece”. Jackson Jackson seems to lack purpose in his life. However, he’s awakened from his spell of self-pity when he spots his grandmother’s regalia in the store window of a pawnshop. Jackson Jackson immediately feels connected to this regalia. It had been taken from his family years ago, and the need to win it back in his grandmother’s honor is overwhelming. But, although the regalia drives Jackson Jackson to want to be more connected to his culture, it doesn’t change his ways as a modern Native American.
Jackson Jackson, like every human being, is flawed. He is jealous and gluttonous. It doesn’t help that he feels he plays second fiddle to Junior, who looks more Native American than Jackson Jackson does. Jackson Jackson is bitter that he’s not as physically connected to his heritage as Junior is. So, to try to solve his problems, Jackson Jackson turns to distractions to alleviate his predicament. He especially likes to turn to the “spirits”. Jackson Jackson refers to alcohol as a “bottle of fortified courage” that helps get him by. It’s expected that when Jackson Jackson finds his grandmother’s regalia, that he’ll get his act together. Especially when the pawnbroker gives Jackson Jackson some money to get started; you’d think that Jackson Jackson would have some pride in the fact that he’s been given money to carry out a specific goal. Instead, he ends up spending the money on alcohol.
Jackson Jackson, feeling helpless in his journey to win back the regalia, attempts to fill his void with women. He admits to going through relationship after relationship, never really caring much about the other person. Throughout his quest to fill his void, he has encounters with two main women. The first is Mary. Jackson Jackson claims to be in love with Mary; this “love” is comprised of his purchasing lottery tickets accompanied by small talk. Jackson Jackson does not want commitment. Mary is the extent of his long-term romantic life. His romantic life is more of a joke–it’s carefree. The second woman is Irene. Jackson Jackson hooks up with Irene in a bathroom stall at a bar. From his perspective, these relationships might seem like romantic encounters; but they’re really just a part of his quest to fill the missing space within himself. Jackson Jackson uses his lust as an excuse to try to fill the void. It’s a break from reality–the reality that his void cannot be filled by such trivial actions. Needless to say, women are not really what he’s looking for. His needs go deeper than superficial romanticism.
Sherman Alexie emphasizes Jackson Jackson’s ultimate loneliness when he pulls a tarp off a truck and wraps it around himself like the “faithful lover” that he’s never had. It creates an image of a lonely, broken Native American who has been lowered to sleeping in the dirt wrapped in a plastic sheet. With rose of Sharon and Junior gone, all Jackson Jackson has is himself–and the vision of his grandmother’s regalia, which will somehow make him whole. But despite this loneliness, Jackson Jackson never gives up. He keeps a positive attitude. Jackson Jackson’s determination to have a positive outlook on life confuses his police officer friend. The officer jokes that he’s never been around a group of people that laugh as much as Indians. He goes on to say that it must be the “inherent humor of genocide”. Jackson Jackson and his people have struggled so much with countless feats. But he never loses hope. He keeps moving towards his goal. He is on a “mission”. He wants to be a “hero” and win the regalia back “like a knight.” He goes on to say that he truly cares about this regalia. He admits that it’s been a long time since he’s “really cared about something”. Now that Jackson Jackson actually has the initiative to do something valuable with his time, he gives it his all. His culture is the number one priority at this point in his life. Jackson Jackson has recognized his void, and has finally realized how to fill it. And he doesn’t want to have everything given to him, because that’s not the way his ancestors would have received something. They had to work for it.
Jackson Jackson also tries to feel connected to his culture by carrying on cultural traditions. Whenever he makes money he doesn’t spend it all on himself. He remembers that, in his tribe’s culture, whenever someone would make money, they’d give a portion of it back in gratitude. When Jackson Jackson wins $100 from a lottery ticket, he makes sure to give twenty bucks back to Mary. He proudly claims that “it’s tribal…an Indian thing.” Jackson Jackson desires to keep his family’s traditions alive. By applying these traditions to his life, he’s able to feel more connected with his ancestry. Jackson Jackson wants to be apart of his culture so badly that he constantly feels “lonesome for Indians”. It’s this loneliness that prompts him to blow his remaining $80 on his Native American “cousins” that aren’t even blood related. Jackson Jackson feels linked to these Native Americans because they share his race, and maybe even his suffering. The Native American culture brings them all together out of a mutual respect for their past. Jackson Jackson also carries on his culture’s fiscal traditions by buying breakfast for a group of Aleut Indians– but not before asking them to share some Native American songs with him. He takes this chance to listen to his heritage’s music. Even though the Aleuts are not from the same tribe, it doesn’t matter. It’s Native American culture, and that’s enough at this point.
When Jackson Jackson sees his grandmother’s regalia in the window, something inside him just clicks. As soon as he lays eyes on it, he knows that it is important. The regalia ignites a spark within him. Jackson Jackson knows that there is a yellow bead–which represents imperfection–hidden within that regalia. Alexie uses this bead as a metaphor for Jackson Jackson’s own imperfection in his life– his shortfall of not being connected to his heritage. Jackson Jackson finds that the regalia is an inspiration. It gives him a drive that he had not known before. He realizes that he’s on a quest to “win it back” on his own. By winning back the regalia, he will have done his ancestors proud.
After boozing, hooking up with random strangers, and dropping money on non-necessities, Jackson Jackson realizes what is truly important–feeling connected to his culture. In winning back the regalia, it doesn’t matter what happened in the past. He has earned back a part of his family history that will allow him to feel whole. When Jackson Jackson puts the regalia on, he says that the “solitary yellow bead” is part of him. He realizes that he is apart of his family’s yellow bead. He knows that he falls short and that he is imperfect, but it doesn’t matter because his flaws are apart of his family’s flaws, and his family’s flaws are apart of his. When he walks out onto the street with the regalia, nothing else matters. He says everything stops; the sure sign that nothing else matters to
Jackson Jackson because his personal void is filled. Jackson Jackson is completely redeemed when he finally wears the regalia and becomes his grandmother.