49 pages • 1 hour read
What You Pawn I Will Redeem
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Literary Devices
Anecdote
In literature, an anecdote is a brief story recounted within the broader narrative. Jackson shares several over the course of “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” either in conversation with others or while speaking directly to the reader. By and large, these anecdotes tend to involve his family; one story, for instance, concerns his grandmother breaking several ribs on her way home from a powwow, while another recounts how his grandfather—a tribal cop—was fatally shot by his brother while intervening in a domestic dispute.
Alexie’s incorporation of these anecdotes into the frame narrative reflects a broader interest in the relationship between storytelling and Native American history. Jackson explicitly associates storytelling with cultural and racial identity, saying, “[W]e Indians are great storytellers and liars and mythmakers” (Part 1, Paragraph 4). What Alexie suggests, however, is that this affinity for storytelling is not simply a matter of (for example) the strong oral tradition present in many tribes; rather, it is also a result of the alienation many contemporary Native Americans feel from their past. With its undertones of heroic myth and legend, Alexie’s story implies that narrative is one of the ways in which it’s possible to recover or redeem something that has been lost or broken. In telling stories from their past, characters like Jackson are perhaps attempting to do just that.
Anti-Hero
An anti-hero is a character whose traits run counter to those of a conventional protagonist. Cynicism and moral ambiguity are qualities common to many contemporary anti-heroes, but they are not essential; anti-heroes can also be unheroic in the sense of being weak, cowardly, insecure, mediocre, etc.
Jackson is an anti-hero in this latter sense of the word. Although he has admirable qualities—in particular, his generosity and intelligence—he is also something of a ne’er-do-well: He flunked out of college, has a track record of failed relationships, and says that “[b]eing homeless is probably the only thing I’ve ever been good at” (Part 1, Paragraph 3). He is also an alcoholic and spends much of the story immediately spending whatever money comes his way on drink. However, while much of Jackson’s behavior seems self-defeating, it is ultimately vindicated: Jackson wins back his grandmother’s regalia not by diligent saving, but by sharing his earnings with those around him. In this way, Alexie subverts readers’ likely expectations regarding anti-heroes; the qualities that seem likely to doom (or at least impede) Jackson’s efforts are at least partially responsible for his success.
Black Humor
Black humor involves extending the use of comedy to subject matter that’s usually considered serious or tragic, and thus off-limits. Alexie’s story contains numerous examples of this technique, but Jackson’s joke about Native Americans and Jews stands out as both an illustration of and a rationale for black humor: “The two funniest tribes I’ve ever been around are Indians and Jews, so I guess that says something about the inherent humor of genocide” (Part 15, Paragraph 28). The implication is that in the face of incalculable suffering, humor is one of the only coping mechanisms humans have to draw on. This point reflects the story’s broader ideas about the possibility of transforming evil into good; in a sense, black humor serves as one form of “redemption” through which Jackson and Alexie turn the pain of homelessness, alcoholism, and loss into something meaningful or even joyful.
Denouement
Virtually every narrative work has a denouement: a section (typically near the work’s end) in which the author ties up the last loose plot threads. However, the overall themes of Alexie’s story make the particular form of its denouement especially significant. Jackson has not managed to secure $1,000 by the time he returns to the pawnshop, and in fact he has spent most of the money he earned on food and drink for himself and his friends. As a result, neither the reader nor Jackson believes he’ll be able to recover his grandmother’s regalia, yet we are proven wrong in the work’s last few paragraphs.
This apparent reversal in the direction of the plot reinforces the story’s critique of the transactional ethos of contemporary Western society. Although Jackson can’t pay the “fair” price for the regalia, his actions over the past 24 hours (and in particular his willingness to share what money he does earn) reflect an alternative value system that is ultimately rewarded. Relatedly, the story’s unexpectedly happy ending encourages readers to look beyond the literal meaning of its title towards more figurative interpretations; for instance, while Jackson himself doesn’t “redeem” the regalia from the pawnshop, the moment is one of “redemption” in that Jackson receives more than he feels he has earned.
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By Sherman Alexie
