“This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” As a Short Story
Edgar Allen Poe and Brander Matthews have a very narrow definition for what qualifies as a short story. According to Matthews, a short story “shows one action, in one place, on one day. A Short-story deals with a single character, a single event, a single emotion, or the series of emotions called forth by a single situation. Sherman Alexie challenges this notion with his short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” which does a deep dive into the lives of both Victor and Thomas. One does not come away from this story with the complete picture of a single situation like Matthews describes, but an idea of what the lives of our main characters have been like leading up to the beginning of the story, and of what their lives might be like after the story’s conclusion. The most striking difference between Alexie’s and Matthews’ interpretation of a short story is the myriad of flashbacks Alexie includes in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” Most of the...