The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

by

Sherman Alexie

Nezzy Character Analysis

Victor’s aunt; a “beautiful dancer” and a steadfast woman who remains strong in the face of forced sterilization, derision and ungratefulness from her husband and son, and several other traumas such as car crashes and reckoning with her husband’s alcoholism. She is an accomplished dressmaker, and constructs a heavy beaded dress which she believes will, when worn by the right person, reveal “the one who will save [the tribe.]” When Nezzy dons the dress she struggles at first under its great weight, but eventually stands and begins to dance.
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Nezzy Character Timeline in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

The timeline below shows where the character Nezzy appears in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Fun House
Violence, Poverty, and Loss Theme Icon
Memory, Bearing Witness, Storytelling, and Imagination Theme Icon
Community vs. Isolation Theme Icon
Love and Hatred Theme Icon
...a flashback to thirty years previous, before the birth of her son, the narrator’s aunt—named Nezzy—drinks and dances with her husband in an “Indian cowboy bar.” On the way back home,... (full context)
Memory, Bearing Witness, Storytelling, and Imagination Theme Icon
Cultural Pain vs. Personal Pain Theme Icon
Community vs. Isolation Theme Icon
Love and Hatred Theme Icon
After the mouse incident, the Nezzy walks to the bank of the Tshimikain Creek. She strips her clothes off and dives... (full context)
Violence, Poverty, and Loss Theme Icon
Memory, Bearing Witness, Storytelling, and Imagination Theme Icon
Cultural Pain vs. Personal Pain Theme Icon
Community vs. Isolation Theme Icon
In a memory from the past, we see Nezzy delivering her son. After he arrives, “the doctor tie[s] her tubes, with the permission slip... (full context)
Violence, Poverty, and Loss Theme Icon
Cultural Pain vs. Personal Pain Theme Icon
Community vs. Isolation Theme Icon
Love and Hatred Theme Icon
Nezzy, tired, exits the creek and walks back up the road toward home. Upon entering the... (full context)