“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is a short story by Sherman Alexie. The story is about a Native American man named Jackson Jackson who tries to redeem his grandmother’s stolen powwow regalia.
Jackson Jackson is a Native American man who lives in Spokane, Washington. His grandmother was a famous powwow dancer and her regalia was stolen from her home after she died. Jackson decides to try to redeem the regalia by buying it back from the pawnshop where it was sold.
He does not have enough money to buy the regalia outright, so he makes a deal with the pawnshop owner: he will work for the owner for three days and in exchange, the owner will give him the money to buy the regalia.
Jackson Jackson is a Native American man who lives in Spokane, Washington. His grandmother was a famous powwow dancer and her regalia was stolen from her home after she died. Jackson decides to try to redeem the regalia by buying it back from the pawnshop where it was sold.
He does not have enough money to buy the regalia outright, so he makes a deal with the pawnshop owner: he will work for the owner for three days and in exchange, the owner will give him the money to buy the regalia.
On the first day of his work, Jackson finds out that the owner’s son, Jimmy, has been stealing from the store. He confronts Jimmy and tells him to stop.
The next day, Jackson overhears the owner talking to someone on the phone about selling the regalia. He realizes that the owner never intended to give him the money to buy it back and that he was only using Jackson as a worker.
Jackson decides to take matters into his own hands. He steals the regalia from the pawnshop and leaves town.
“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is a short story about Native American culture, identity, and family. Jackson Jackson’s journey to redeem his grandmother’s stolen powwow regalia is a metaphor for his journey to reclaim his own cultural identity.
“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie appears to be a simple narrative about a homeless Indian in Seattle who tries to make money to get his grandmother’s Pow Wow regalia back from a local pawn shop. However, many symbolic sections may lead someone to considerably more complex analyses.
The story’s protagonist, Jack, is a Spokane Indian. He is also an alcoholic who has been estranged from his family for years and now lives on the streets of Seattle. Jack is in search of enough money to redeem his grandmother’s Pow Wow regalia from a local pawn shop, which he hopes will help him reconnect with her before she dies.
Throughout the story, Alexie uses symbol and allegory to suggest that Jack is not just redeeming his grandmother’s regalia, but he is also redeeming himself. For example, when Jack tries to sell his blood to a plasma center, he is rejected because he is too drunk. This could be interpreted to mean that Jack is trying to sell his blood (or his life) for money, but he is not healthy enough to do so. This could be seen as a metaphor for his overall situation – he is trying to improve his life, but his alcoholism is holding him back.
In the end, Jack does redeem the regalia from the pawn shop, but not before he has a heart-to-heart talk with the owner, Mr. Wright. In this conversation, Jack opens up about his grandmother and their relationship. He also reveals that he plans to use the regalia in her upcoming Pow Wow ceremony, which she may not live to see. This final interaction between Jack and Mr. Wright suggests that Jack has redeemed more than just the regalia – he has also redeemed himself.
There are several hints throughout the narrative that suggest this journey may not have been genuine, but rather a “higher” spiritual experience for him. It’s conceivable that Jackson was on a modern-day vision quest in which he traveled to different locations and interacted with people.
For example, when he first pawns his grandmother’s regalia, the clerk asks him if he is sure he wants to do it. He responds by saying that he is “on a mission.” This could be interpreted to mean that he is on a spiritual journey and is looking for guidance.
Another clue is when Jackson talks about how his grandmother used to tell him stories about their ancestors. He says that these stories made him feel like he was “already dead.” This could be interpreted as him feeling disconnected from his culture and wanting to reconnect with it.
The final clue is when Jackson says that he feels like he is “walking in two worlds.” This could be interpreted as him feeling like he doesn’t quite fit in either the white world or the Native American world.
All of these clues point to the idea that Jackson’s quest was more about finding himself than it was about finding his grandmother’s regalia.
The introduction to the story opens with Jackson stating bluntly that he is a homeless Indian who “…married twice or three times, fathered two or three children, and then went crazy” (9) and that he is an alcoholic Indian with a sick stomach. His drinking has had a significant impact on his health.
Years of alcohol abuse and mental illness may have changed his sense of awareness. It’s reasonable to assume that his quest to reclaim his grandmother’s regalia is nothing more than a delusion, which he has represented within himself in order to reconnect with his family, heritage, and self-esteem.
The short story Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is about a Native American man named Jackson Jackson who goes on a quest to find and redeem his grandmother’s stolen powwow regalia. He starts off by pawning his most prized possessions, including his watch and his car stereo, in order to get the money he needs to buy the regalia back. However, as he gets closer and closer to his goal, he realize that the true value of the regalia lies not in its material worth, but in its sentimental value.
Throughout the story, Jackson reflects on his life and how it has been shaped by his relationships with his family and his culture. He talks about how he has been estranged from his family for many years, and how he has struggled with alcoholism and mental illness. In the end, Jackson comes to realize that the regalia is not just a physical object; it is a symbol of his connection to his culture and his family.
