John Smith, a Native American adopted by a white couple, struggles with his identity as an Indian without a tribe against this backdrop of racial tensions. As fear of the Indian Killer escalates, violence is perpetuated by both races, and John is driven further and further into depression. People judging other race groups by stereotypes, and not knowing, or perhaps not caring, that they are doing it, cause much of this racial violence. Several Indian characters, notably Marie Polatkin, the college activist, and her cousin Reggie, appear to view whites as either the butchers of Indians or "wannabe Indians". Some white characters such as Aaron Rogers, the brother of the murdered David Rogers and who "felt a hate [towards Indians] that made his chest ache" (Alexie 211), see Indians just as homeless drunks. It is this theme of alcoholism among Native Americans that will be explored in this essay. Alcoholism is a common theme for Native American literature.
The theme of alcoholism can be found in certain places in the book. The main character, John Smith, is afraid of the lure that alcohol and booze have on so many members of the Indian community. It is for this reason that he has shunned alcohol throughout his life, and throughout the book refuses to drink. He never goes out to drink with the few friends that he has, or with coworkers after a hard day's work at the construction site. Conversely, Reggie Polatkin drinks often and gets drunk often. Reggie is an angry and cynical ex-college student raised in an abusive household. His father, Bird, would constantly assail him with physical and verbal beatings, such as "You want to be a drunk? You want to be one of those Indians staggering around downtown?" (Alexie 94). He is the one who feeds the whites" generalization of Native Americans as violent drunks.
The theme of alcoholism can also be found in short stories by Sherman Alexie and other Native American writers.