Alex Lemme - "War Dances"

In his story "War Dances", Sherman Alexie investigates the inner turmoil of the main character as well as involve the reader through dry humour. The continuously occurring jokes in the narration provide a direct insight into the main character's mind, but also forge very important connections to how he is coping with his father's demise and his own health issues. In part four of the narration titled "Blankets" Alexie's character points out that his father is in a very open area of the hospital: "My father was exposed - his decades of poor health and worse decisions were illuminated". Further on, the main character wittily comments on the lack of good blankets needed for patients in the quotes "Everybody was uninsured and unblanketed" and "It [the blanket] was more like the world's largest coffee filter". These two quotes both showcase the witty nature of the narration as well as the emotional response to the narrator's ill father. While the narrator is trying to shelter himself in humour, the concentration on the exposure of his father connects to how he wants to protect him from any harm. Alexie's detailed recount about being "unblanketed" may also show that the narrator may not be comfortable exposing his thoughts under the "white light" without any humour to act as a filter.