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.