This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Summary
Sherman Alexie

This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona Overview

“This Is What It Means When You Say Phoenix, Arizona” is a short story by Sherman Alexie. The story as originally published in Esquire and was later reprinted in Alexie’s story collection entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The story is set in the early 1990s and follows a Native American named Victor. Victor learns that his estranged father recently died in Phoenix, Arizona. Victor lives on a Native American reservation in the pacific northwest, so he travels to Phoenix to retrieve his father’s remains. He is joined by Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who is a member of the same tribe as Victor. The story explores themes such as alienation, adversity, and altruism.