Thomas the Eagle?
"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
This alternative ending/continuation begins after the sentence, "That's all Thomas had ever wanted from his whole life."
[They stood silence for a solemn moment. One contemplated whether to use his new truck to drive away and never come back. He decided to settle for driving home, for now. The other remained at the edge of his porch, eyes closed just like right before he had jumped off the the roof of the reservation school house.
Thomas flew.
He soared above the dilapidated cluster of buildings that they called home. Giving a mighty screech, Thomas spread his feathery eagle wings. He watched Victor cut the ignition to his truck and carry the box of his father's remains into the house. He watched the elders smoking and recounting the same history they always did. He watched Junior, Seymour, Lester and the others grapple with the sharp edges of their broken dreams.
He flew so high that he reached the stars. They twinkled like candles that never burned out, each one representing the great warriors that died for freedom. Thomas sprinkled the ashes over the candles by the rushing waters at Spokane falls. The salmon leapt towards the cosmos, back to Phoenix, Arizona. We are home, it said, that is what it means to take care.
Thomas laughed. Yes, it seemed like there would always be more stories to tell.]
When I read the ending to Sherman Alexie's story, there were two major things I was unsatisfied with. Firstly, that the name of the short story never got explained, and also that it felt somewhat rushed and anti-climatic. Having written a couple stories myself, I understand the difficulty of both titles and endings. It is very hard to come up with a short title that resonates with the piece. It is also hard to wrap up the loose ends of a story and tie it in a nice bow, like a pretty present.
I understand that the author gets creative licence to do about whatever they want. To some degree, though, the audience should be clued into the general vision of the story. Some stories have titles that aren't directly in the story, but still make sense. "The Evolution of My Brother", for instance, which doesn't draw directly from a name or line in the narrative. However, the reader still understands why it is called that, because the story, after all, is literally about the narrator's brother. However, the title of "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is just so vague and confusing that I think it deserves an explanation. Plus, the story is mostly centered around a reservation that is not in Phoenix.
In my ending, I tried to channel the spiritual, slightly illogical tone of Alexie's story. The ambiguity leaves the reader to decide whether there is magic or not. I also wanted to call back to some of the other characters, because I felt like a sense of a community came from ending with a zoomed out view of the reservation. The reader can interpret my ending as hopeful or bittersweet, since I feel like the original ending didn't illicit a lot of emotion. It felt rather empty. While I cannot claim to know Alexie's intentions with his original ending, I think my ending solidifies a lot of the Native American mystical elements that Alexie only hints at. The part with the warriors as stars in the sky draws attention to the sad reality of contemporary tribes in America. Thomas, as a character, too, I feel is clarified. My interpretation here is of Thomas as sort of a guardian spirit for Victor's family, because he watches over him and guides Victor's father's spirit to his "home" or final resting place. -- in the sky above Phoenix, Arizona.
This alternative ending/continuation begins after the sentence, "That's all Thomas had ever wanted from his whole life."
[They stood silence for a solemn moment. One contemplated whether to use his new truck to drive away and never come back. He decided to settle for driving home, for now. The other remained at the edge of his porch, eyes closed just like right before he had jumped off the the roof of the reservation school house.
Thomas flew.
He soared above the dilapidated cluster of buildings that they called home. Giving a mighty screech, Thomas spread his feathery eagle wings. He watched Victor cut the ignition to his truck and carry the box of his father's remains into the house. He watched the elders smoking and recounting the same history they always did. He watched Junior, Seymour, Lester and the others grapple with the sharp edges of their broken dreams.
He flew so high that he reached the stars. They twinkled like candles that never burned out, each one representing the great warriors that died for freedom. Thomas sprinkled the ashes over the candles by the rushing waters at Spokane falls. The salmon leapt towards the cosmos, back to Phoenix, Arizona. We are home, it said, that is what it means to take care.
Thomas laughed. Yes, it seemed like there would always be more stories to tell.]
When I read the ending to Sherman Alexie's story, there were two major things I was unsatisfied with. Firstly, that the name of the short story never got explained, and also that it felt somewhat rushed and anti-climatic. Having written a couple stories myself, I understand the difficulty of both titles and endings. It is very hard to come up with a short title that resonates with the piece. It is also hard to wrap up the loose ends of a story and tie it in a nice bow, like a pretty present.
I understand that the author gets creative licence to do about whatever they want. To some degree, though, the audience should be clued into the general vision of the story. Some stories have titles that aren't directly in the story, but still make sense. "The Evolution of My Brother", for instance, which doesn't draw directly from a name or line in the narrative. However, the reader still understands why it is called that, because the story, after all, is literally about the narrator's brother. However, the title of "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is just so vague and confusing that I think it deserves an explanation. Plus, the story is mostly centered around a reservation that is not in Phoenix.
In my ending, I tried to channel the spiritual, slightly illogical tone of Alexie's story. The ambiguity leaves the reader to decide whether there is magic or not. I also wanted to call back to some of the other characters, because I felt like a sense of a community came from ending with a zoomed out view of the reservation. The reader can interpret my ending as hopeful or bittersweet, since I feel like the original ending didn't illicit a lot of emotion. It felt rather empty. While I cannot claim to know Alexie's intentions with his original ending, I think my ending solidifies a lot of the Native American mystical elements that Alexie only hints at. The part with the warriors as stars in the sky draws attention to the sad reality of contemporary tribes in America. Thomas, as a character, too, I feel is clarified. My interpretation here is of Thomas as sort of a guardian spirit for Victor's family, because he watches over him and guides Victor's father's spirit to his "home" or final resting place. -- in the sky above Phoenix, Arizona.
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