Introduction
Postcolonial theory claims that the members of decolonized cultures develop a specific postcolonial identity, shaped by the unequal power dynamics of their colonial past. This identity is based on the collective trauma and exists in response to the oppression the identity holders had experienced in the darker parts of their history. The theory is addressed by Sherman Alexie’s short poem “Evolution”, which in a few verses presents a catching metaphor of the United States colonialism towards the Native Americans. This essay examines the ways in which the poem elaborates on the aforementioned thesis by using metaphors and dark humor.
Main body
In a way, the entire poem can be perceived as a multi-layered metaphor, with the pawn shop representing the modern American culture and how it came to fruition. Its owner, Buffalo Bill, has a stock American name that rings heavily of the Wild West. The hints regarding the shop’s proximity to the boarder and the liquor store further elaborate on the western motifs. The shop owner’s careless attitude to the treasures the poem’s Indians bring to him symbolizes the disregard and consumerist perspective colonizers had for the Native American culture. To be more precise, a dress that took an Indian woman twelve years to finish ends up in a dusty storage room in the Buffalo Bill’s pawn shop (Alexie, 1992). This might be interpreted as a sharp metaphor for the ways in which colonizers have acquired relics and objects of significance from the oppressed nations to claim because they could.
As the poem progresses, the metaphors become increasingly darker, merging with the available knowledge of the atrocities of the past. The Indians in the text begin to pawn their hands, all the way down to thumbs, and Buffalo Bill keeps taking. In the world of the prolongated metaphor of the poem the images and allegories are interconnected, each new instance growing from the implications made by the last. This dynamic creates a sense of cyclical, almost comedic madness, with the poem metaphorically representing not only the past, but the present of the America. The pawn shop being rebranded into the museum of Northern American cultures that charges Indians per entry ties back to the experiences of othering, fetishization and cultural appropriation they experience.
Dark humor and irony are utilized throughout the text, with the previously mentioned rebranding acting as the most striking example of it. There is something fundamentally entertaining in an infuriating way in how simple it is for Buffalo Bill to turn precious objects or human flesh into useless trinkets. This feeling is reinforced by him then casually returning the perception of value to these objects, but weaponizing it against their original owners. The absurdity of the act is representative of the unfairness and cruelty of the colonial experience of the marginalized communities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the poem “Evolution” is a darkly satiric, thought-provoking piece of post-colonial literature that effectively portrays the degree of entitlement displayed by the colonizers. It represents the ease with which a dominant culture might jeopardize the oppressed nation’s heritage and then profit off it when it is convenient. Overall, the poem manages to utilize multiple metaphors and twisted humorous tone to convey the every-day violations and disrespect that lie in the core of the post-colonial experience very effectively. It provokes a strong emotional response and is very memorable due to the appropriate use of the sarcastic tone.
Reference
Alexie, S. (1992). The business of fancydancing. Hanging Loose Press.