Sunday, January 27, 2008

The Lone Ranger and Taunto Fistfight in Heaven

I like the name of this story. I think it shows the two sides of the man in this passage, or at least the two different ways that he sees himself. Instead of seeing him just as Taunto fighting the white ranger, I think he represents both of them. The Lone Ranger is the side of the man that we see in the story as he describes his graveyard shift and his lost love. He is very lonely. Taunto is the side that we see when he describes his physical appearance, and the way the cops told him he was making people nervous. It is the side of him we see that makes him feel like a disappointment. He was supposed to "rise above the rest of the reservation." I think he feels like he has let down his family and because of his heritage, has gotten stuck behind and lost all his dreams. However, the Lone Ranger is the one breaking lamps and avoiding getting jobs. The two sides of him are battling each other and the title, as well as his response about his dreams, seem to suggest that those two sides may never find peace. He, as Taunto, may never feel like he fits in because of his race, which will lead him, as the Lone Ranger, to forever feel inferior and lonely. This ongoing friction and fighting cause him sadness and anger, which is why he fought so much with his girlfriend, which just made him more lonely.

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