Writing Homework Help

I’m working on a literature question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

Alexie’s story, “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” has a complex relationship with Native American tradition, and the one character who respects and honors Native tradition (Thomas Builds-the-Fire) often comes across as comic relief at best and an annoyance to the other characters at worst. Why does Alexie give powers of prophecy and storytelling to such a character? How does Alexie’s choice to do so force us to rethink our assumptions about what it means to be Native American? The story makes frequent use of flashbacks to establish the relationships between the two main characters, Thomas Builds-the-Fire and Victor Joseph. Is the flashback merely a convenient narrative device, or is it necessary in developing the themes of friendship, family, and community identity?