Sherman Alexie's use of juxtaposition

 I find that Sherman Alexie's use of mixing humor and sadness of his stories displays how he decided to cope with his father's alcoholism, abandonment, and their dysfunctional relationship. This is because I noticed how he doesn't just speak about his hardships, or what going through his experiences felt like, but also adds jokes and irony to "lighten the mood".

I think that this is deeper than just a style of writing or a rhetorical choice, representing how Alexie himself endures these circumstances. For example, he jokes about how Jimi Hendrix "ruined" his father and mother's marriage, which may initially seem like a playful, humorous line. In. reality, it displays the abandonment issues Alexie deals with from his father, and the dynamic between his family. Him adding humor to this part of the story acts almost as a shield; instead of focusing on the despair behind these stories, he uses dark humor not only for us readers for the piece not to be so depressing, but also for himself to make the situation easier to handle. It helps Alexie deal with it and keeps the sadness under control rather than letting it control him. Utilizing comedy is his coping strategy that helps aid the tragedies in his life to be deemed as less threatening, and easier to withstand. 

The mix of the humor and sadness reflects the complicated relationship that him and his father had. Although Alexie jokes about many things in the story, it is still evident to readers that he cared deeply about him, showing how the usage of humor in the piece still is not enough to erase Alexie's difficulties. 

These aspects of the story make it more powerful and meaningful to readers.  It brought to mind real-life scenarios; we occasionally laugh at things that could have made us feel differently at the time, and although humor doesn't make the pain go away, it does make it easier.

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