Bob's Coney Island

In this final chapter Sherman Alexie wraps up his book with his final thoughts on the history of Native Americans. With the first poem, "Introduction to Western Civilization," someone may see a simple illustration of an old Spanish church. However, the final lines in this poem are filled with some violent imagery of a basket that once "held the skulls of enemy soldiers, and served as a vivid warning against any further attacks against the church." One can't help but wonder who these enemies of the church were. In many cases, it seems anyone who wouldn't accept the church's ways could be considered enemies. Alexie shows the violence of the European Christians who came across and destroyed their way of life.


The poems in this section span all over the world, from Germany, Spain, Chicago, and finally in New York. Not only does this show the universal problems, but it shows the comparison of how different countries confront these problems. Germany honors the many lives lost in the Holocaust with museums and various other tributes, yet America doesn't even acknowledge the genocide of the Native Americans and their culture. We seem more wrapped up in putting people on the moon than feeding our own citizens or making sure people don't live below the poverty line.


In the final poem, "Bob's Coney Island," Alexie admits that all he really wants is to have the land that the Native Americans rightfully owned, though "we know all that we see doesn't really belong to anyone." Alexie makes it clear in this poem that the Native American history is one that shouldn't be merely forgotten.