Relating: Victor and Joseph

In both The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Smoke Signals, the relationship between Victor and Arnold Joseph is, at best volatile. However, the same relationship is portrayed differently in each work as a result of the unique portrayal of characters within each work. Victor in the novel is far more passive, too confused and taken back by all the ugliness that surrounds him on the reservation to be the expressively bitter and angry character he is in the film.  His father, Arnold, in either work is not an effective father to his son. In the movie though, he is a clear antagonist to Victor whereas in the book, he is simply an illusionist, an apparition that you see one second, then you don't....gone faster than you can say 'poof, poof, poof!' 

Gary Farmer, who plays Arnold Joseph, has actually taken steps to speak out against the alcoholism so frequent on reservations, appearing in a Public Service announcement against Indians driving drunk.





Adam Beach, who plays Victor Joseph, humbly admits that were he to have stayed on the reservation, rather than pursuing acting, he too would be caught up in the atmosphere of drugs and alcohol that so consumed his character's life.



Arnold
In the book, Arnold is commonly drunk or passed out (p90). He is barely conscious of his son, so, he can't muster the strength, even the coordination, to physically abuse his son or wife. However, we can find traces of genuine concern for his family-- weeping at Christmas when he can't give them gifts (p4) and after crashing his motorcycle, advising Victor, "Stick with four wheels" (p33). Arnold is not an immediately harmful father in the text, he's more inadequate. Throughout the novel, he frequently disappears until one day, he vanishes forever.

In the film, Arnold is again commonly drunk. Sadly though, he is all too conscious and takes out remorse for past transgressions on his son. We never learn in the novel how Arnold truly felt about his son but, in the movie, we are provided some insight by a story from Suzy Song.


Victor and the Jesuit's



Victor

In the collection, Victor is relatively quiet in response to his father's rejection. Perhaps because it had been so much less of an explosive process. We see much more of the adult Victor in Alexie's anthology-- the man who becomes a drunkard himself, who isn't able to form any lasting romantic relationships. Clearly, Victor carries the baggage of his father's disappearance in the fiction, he just doesn't check it on to others. I think it is interesting to note that in the book, Victor wants to go to his father's home to retrieve any pictures or mementos from his father that he might find but, in the film, he expects nothing, desires nothing.

In the film though, the aggressive example of his father, leads to an angry and embittered adulthood. Even as a child in the movie, Victor is more of a tough guy than he is in the book, he throws beer bottles at his dad's truck. In many scenes, he takes it all out on Thomas who seems to know Arnold better than Victor himself through his prophetic gift. Even an innocent passengers on the bus ride to Arizona aren't spared Victor's lashing out in fury. His compulsion is to be the antithesis of his father, a "good indian", even going so far as to buy into the stereotypes..."wear your hair down" and "get stoic." Ironically enough though, as Victor tries to be a good Indian, his anger continues to alienate him from his community which is the very opposite of what most Native Americans try to do-- hence, the 'Lone Ranger' not the Lone Tonto.  However, unlike in the text, Victor's journey to Phoenix does begin to provide healing.  Suzy Song and Thomas Builds-The-Fire are key to his growth in the film, helping to show him the need to forgive his father, and find an identity separate from his abandonment.