Parenting?!

When it comes to issues like family and love, people can behave in a very confusing manner. In “Because my Father Always Said He was the Only Indian who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock," Victor's father neglects his wife and child while also caring deeply for them. To show this contradiction throughout his piece, Sherman Alexie uses humor. This device lets Alexie convey his father's charismatic and kind nature while also showing his selfish side.

Victor's father describes Victor's mother as so beautiful that "tumbleweeds would follow [them] around"; in addition, Victor mentions how "[his dad] needed [him] just as much as he needed every other kind of drink" (Alexie 27). In both cases, Alexie's humor reveals how much Victor's dad cares for his family. It is obvious that he loves his wife and son, and Alexie's use of humor furthers the idea of Victor's dad's charismatic and naturally funny nature. However, Victor's mother mentions how Victor's father "was always half crazy...and the other half was on medication" (Alexie 27). Alexie's use of darker humor here displays Victor's father's inconsiderate and distasteful side: at times, Victor's father can disregard the needs of his family and follow his own desires, and this rhetorical device exposes the irony in this situation by contrasting a serious problem with humor. This carelessness is what causes problems in Victor's parents' marriage, and ultimately leads to their divorce. Unfortunately, Victor's father has certain qualities that make him an inadequate parent, but even so, his love for his family members is also of utmost importance to him.

Basically Victor's dad