The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

by

Sherman Alexie

Another one of Victor’s childhood friends. Junior Polatkin is present for many of Victor’s childhood escapades, and he narrates a few of the stories throughout the text. He gives an account of his education both on and off the reservation, and ultimately travels to Spokane to attend Gonzaga University. There, he has a one-night stand with a white woman, Lynn, who becomes pregnant with his child. Junior drops out of school and returns to the reservation, and is only able to speak to his son on the telephone. Junior is smart and sensitive, and, through his interactions with Norma, reveals that he carries some past secrets he still feels guilty about.

Junior Polatkin Quotes in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

The The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven quotes below are all either spoken by Junior Polatkin or refer to Junior Polatkin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Violence, Poverty, and Loss Theme Icon
).
A Drug Called Tradition Quotes

Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you... Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you about the time. See, it is always now. That’s what Indian time is. The past, the future, all of it is wrapped up in the now. That’s how it is. We are trapped in the now.”

Related Characters: Thomas Builds-the-Fire (speaker), Victor, Junior Polatkin
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions
Page Number: 21-22
Explanation and Analysis:
A Good Story Quotes

It is warm, soon to be cold, but that’s in the future, maybe tomorrow, probably the next day and all the days after that. Today, now, I drink what I have, will eat what is left in the cupboard, while my mother finishes her quilt, piece by piece. Believe me, there is just barely enough goodness in all of this.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Indian Education Quotes

I picked up a basketball for the first time and made my first shot. No. I missed my first shot, missed the basket completely, and the ball landed in the dirt and sawdust, sat there just like I had sat there only minutes before. But it felt good, that ball in my hands, all those possibilities and angles. It was mathematics, geometry. It was beautiful.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions, Basketball and Television
Page Number: 174-175
Explanation and Analysis:

There is more than one way to starve.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Somebody Kept Saying Powwow Quotes

Sometimes it feels like our tribe is dying a piece of fry bread at a time.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker), Norma
Related Symbols: Fry Bread
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Junior Polatkin’s Wild West Show Quotes

Junior hung up the phone and walked down the highway toward the reservation. He wanted to imagine that he was walking off into the sunset, into a happy ending. But he knew that all along the road he traveled, there were reservation drive-ins, each showing a new and painful sequel to the first act of his life.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions, Basketball and Television
Page Number: 242
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven PDF

Junior Polatkin Quotes in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

The The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven quotes below are all either spoken by Junior Polatkin or refer to Junior Polatkin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Violence, Poverty, and Loss Theme Icon
).
A Drug Called Tradition Quotes

Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you... Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you about the time. See, it is always now. That’s what Indian time is. The past, the future, all of it is wrapped up in the now. That’s how it is. We are trapped in the now.”

Related Characters: Thomas Builds-the-Fire (speaker), Victor, Junior Polatkin
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions
Page Number: 21-22
Explanation and Analysis:
A Good Story Quotes

It is warm, soon to be cold, but that’s in the future, maybe tomorrow, probably the next day and all the days after that. Today, now, I drink what I have, will eat what is left in the cupboard, while my mother finishes her quilt, piece by piece. Believe me, there is just barely enough goodness in all of this.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Indian Education Quotes

I picked up a basketball for the first time and made my first shot. No. I missed my first shot, missed the basket completely, and the ball landed in the dirt and sawdust, sat there just like I had sat there only minutes before. But it felt good, that ball in my hands, all those possibilities and angles. It was mathematics, geometry. It was beautiful.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions, Basketball and Television
Page Number: 174-175
Explanation and Analysis:

There is more than one way to starve.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker)
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Somebody Kept Saying Powwow Quotes

Sometimes it feels like our tribe is dying a piece of fry bread at a time.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin (speaker), Norma
Related Symbols: Fry Bread
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Junior Polatkin’s Wild West Show Quotes

Junior hung up the phone and walked down the highway toward the reservation. He wanted to imagine that he was walking off into the sunset, into a happy ending. But he knew that all along the road he traveled, there were reservation drive-ins, each showing a new and painful sequel to the first act of his life.

Related Characters: Junior Polatkin
Related Symbols: Dreams and Visions, Basketball and Television
Page Number: 242
Explanation and Analysis: