Custom «What You Pawn I Will Redeem» Essay Paper Sample

When the story begins, Jackson describes himself as a homeless Indian from Spokane. Jackson has been homeless for the last six years. He describes himself as an "effective homeless man", implying that he had learnt few of the tricks of surviving as a homeless being such as knowing the best restaurants to get free food and convenience stores whereby he could use their bathrooms. In describing himself, Jackson generalizes the fact that Indians, him included are liars and mythmakers (Alexie 2).

This portrays an element of corruption in his character and other fellow Indians in Seattle. Jackson reports that he and his team mates only matter to one another and not anybody else which presents a selfish character in him. During the process of trying to recover his grandmother's regalia, Jackson says that selling newspapers required sober minds, and he was not adept at staying sober; he therefore, describes himself as a drunkard who found it hard to stay sober in order to sell newspapers (Alexie 5). His alcoholic nature is further demonstrated when he says that he has to stay on a full stomach as an alcoholic Indian in order to survive. We know that it is not a must for a person to stay on a full stomach.

In addition, after winning the $100, Jackson heads straight to an Indian bar instead of going to recover his grandmother's regalia. His love for women is also revealed in the manner through which he flirts with Irene at the bar, and later heads with her to the bathroom (Alexie 6). Another striking character of Jackson is optimism; he tried his level best to raise the nine hundred and ninety nine dollars to recover his grandmother's regalia. Even after failing, he still goes to the same shop with the hope of winning the regalia since he wanted to be seen as a hero.