“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is a short story written by Sherman Alexie and it is about an Indian man, whose name is Jackson Jackson, who is in search of his identity in life. Jackson has friends and most of them are Indian and his faith in the humanity of people is great and amazing. He believes that the good he does will come back to him and he lives by this rule. Jackson never says that, but it is obvious from his actions. He is kind and considerate towards people and he is rewarded because of that in spite of having many flaws.
Jackson has been living for six years as a homeless person and he is used to it because he knows how to manage on his own. He used to be married more than once and has at least two children, but he does not know how many exactly. He says: “I’ve broken a few hearts in my time, but we’ve all done that, so I’m nothing special in that regard“(Alexie 1). He is a free-spirited person, but he is also an alcoholic and his greatest fault is extreme immaturity. Jackson’s attitude towards life is childish although he is an older man. His friends enjoy his company, but they leave him as soon as he goes on a quest of finding money to pay to the pawnshop owner for his late grandmother’s powwow regalia. All of them are alcoholics and that is in common with all of the Indians in this short story. Rose of Sharon and Junior are there for Jackson until he goes in his mission. He is on his own during the twenty four hours which the pawnshop owner gives him. Alexie uses “certain conventional character types (including the prejudicial stereotype of the “drunken Indian”) as materials for constructing a realistic literary document for contemporary Indian survival” (Evans 48). In spite of being alcoholics, these people are essentially good and alcohol seems to be their pastime.
The title of the story is related to the community spirit which means that if a person who is a close relative pawns something, or loses something valuable, they can rely on their close ones to redeem it. This is the powwow regalia in this case because Jackson believes that the spirit of his grandmother is attached to the regalia in a way. He feels a special bond towards it and he never loses hope of getting it back even when he does not manage to gather enough money. That is because of his belief in the kindness of human beings. He strongly feels that people are essentially good and that is why he relies on other people to survive in the streets. He says: “Being homeless is probably the only thing I’ve ever been good at. I know where to get the best free food. I’ve made friends with restaurant and convenience-store managers who let me use their bathrooms“ (Alexie 1). It is evident that he is good with people because he makes them be sentimental about him. He could not survive without the help of other people who are somewhat influential. They provide him with food and with the possibility to clean himself. Jackson is a person who knows how to survive the street life and he manages to do so. He is not a lonely person and he has many friends and all of them regard one another as if they were relatives. They help each other out and it is the only way of staying alive in the civilization without regular food and shelter.
The story is set in Seattle where Jackson relocated after his life in Washington. There are many homeless Indians in the streets and most of them are alcoholics as well. The mentality of these Indians who belong to various different tribes is well described. It is evident that they are selfless and ready to help anybody who is in need. They like to laugh and to be funny which represents their attitude towards life. These Indians do not believe in being too serious and selfish, so they stick together in order to help each other out. They spend money among themselves and Jackson does that as well. Whenever he has money, he buys food or drinks to other people because Indians are people who treat each other like that. He says: “We’re common and boring, and you walk right on by us, with maybe a look of anger or disgust or even sadness at the terrible fate of the noble savage. But we have dreams and families“ (Alexie 1). It is true that these people are noble savages because they were subjected to genocide by the same white people who look at them with disgust now. However, they keep their positive attitude towards life because that is their true nature. According to Jackson, there are also aggressive Indian tribes, but his tribe isnot one of those. Jackson says: “We aren’t like those crazy Sioux or Apache or any of those other warrior tribes. There’ve only been three murders on my reservation in the last hundred years.” (Alexie 15). Most Indians cherish peace, but they are aware of the fact that they were banned from the rights and privileges they had prior to the arrival of white people to America.
What is most interesting about Jackson is his attitude towards life because he is always positive under all circumstances. He says: “Yeah, we Spokane, we’re passive, you know. We’re mean with words. And we’ll cuss out anybody. But we don’t shoot people. Or stab them. Not much, anyway.” (Alexie 15). They enjoy peace and they do not believe in aggression although they do not take care about their health and about having families in life. Jackson did not manage to have his family and he left all the women he was ever related to. He enjoys his freedom although he could get hurt any time and die because of being reckless. It seems that he likes to lead such a life which is full of surprises and uncertainties. People should not be judgmental towards people who do not long for stability and security because everybody has a choice. Jackson is one of such people and he is not hurting anybody with his choices in life.
Everything in life is about experience and that is the most precious thing that one can possess. Having many significant memories means being rich for some people and it fulfills them. They might seem to be irresponsible, but they are only following the path they chose. Even if it does not lead them anywhere, they enjoy the freedom and the opportunity to explore and the final result is the spiritual maturity which is acquired through time. People are essentially good in this story and that is why Jackson gets rewarded all the time, although he does not do anything in particular. The police officer gives him some money: ““I’m giving it to you because I believe in what you believe. I’m hoping, and I don’t know why I’m hoping it, but I hope you can turn thirty bucks into a thousand somehow.” (Alexie 16). The policeman is similar to Jackson because both of them are generous anddo not care about earthy possessions. The difference between them lies in the fact that the policeman prefers security over wandering in life.
Jackson does not take life seriously and he has his secrets which he relates to the nature of Indian men. He is also aware of the fact that colonialism destroyed his civilization: “I am living proof of the horrible damage that colonialism has done to us Skins“ (Alexie 2). In spite of everything, Jackson is not a bitter person, but he is also not someone who takes life and health seriously. The only thing he is serious about is getting the grandmother’s regalia back from the pawnshop. It has been missing for fifty years and he hopes to get the money to buy it back. Jackson also believes in kindness of the shop owner and he is right in doing so because he gets the regalia back in spite of not having enough money.
Everything seems to be magical in this story and even the pawnshop seems to change its location. Jackson says: “And just when I’d given up, when I turned one last corner and thought I might die if I didn’t find that pawnshop, there it was, in a space I swear it hadn’t occupied a few minutes ago“ (Alexie 19). The pieces of the puzzle seem to fit toghether because Jackson’s life changes during the twenty-four hours of his spiritual journey. His belief in humanity is satisfied and he remains to be a good person. When his friends leave him he says: ““They went travelling. But it’s O.K. Indians are everywhere.” (Alexie 19). Everything in life happens for a reason and Jackson is aware of that and he is grateful to be surrounded by people who understand him and who share his view on life. These people support each other and that is why they encounter other people who are generous towards the unfortunate ones. The pawnshop owner gives him the regalia for free because he believes that Jackson really tried to earn money. Regalia are the symbol of freedom and of life itself because it is the only thing that can make Jackson happy again. When he gets it he begins dancing in the street: “Pedestrians stopped. Cars stopped. The city stopped. They all watched me dance with my grandmother. I was my grandmother, dancing“ (Alexie 20). The history of the whole family is now a part of Jackson’s spirit.
This story tells a lot about Indians and it the fact that Jackson is an alcoholic and a homeless person does not make him less valuable as a person. He can manage his ways in life and he is a very interesting person. There are many kind-hearted people who help him on his way and the story does restore faith in the humanity as a whole because Jackson prefers spiritual over the materialistic world.
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. "What You Pawn I Will Redeem." The Seagull Reader: Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 8-28. Print.
Evans, Stephen F. ""Open Containers": Sherman Alexie's Drunken Indians." American Indian Quarterly 25.1 (2001): 46-72. Print.
