POST-INDIAN SURVIVANCE: VIOLENCE AND METAPHORS IN ALEXIE’S FLIGHT

Abstract

This research studies the theme of violence as enunciated through metaphors by Sherman Alexie in his novel Flight (2007). Alexie uses metaphors with a flow of his unlimited imagination to demonstrate the transformations of his protagonist. The novel chronicles the experiences of Zits, an adolescent boy with a problematic history, who assumes numerous identities embarking on a imaginative expedition in time. Alexie uses violence as a perspective to explore questions of identity, historical trauma and the potential of endurance and survival in Native American individuals and community. Flight serves as a poignant reminder of the profound repercussions of violence while simultaneously providing a strong ray of hope for the Native American communities. Gerald Vizenor, a profound Native American critic and novelist, emphasized the use of imagination to dismantle the imposed subjugation by Euro-Americans through false presentation of Native Americans as Indian. Vizenor’s concept of survivance brings forth the unsubduable Native Americans character in facing social, cultural and historical violence. This research investigates Euro-Americans violence to create an absence of Native Americans. The post-Indian survivance of Native Americans enable them not to be seen as victims but as example of survivance.