Regalia Redemption

Deep rooted culture and meaningful family relationships are what drive Sherman Alexie in his quest to retrieve his grandmother’s regalia. Being a member of a family whose native blood runs strong in an evolving culture seems to be difficult when searching for a sort of identity or place to fit. In short story titled “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Alexie details his life as a homeless man in Washington state, which takes off when he identifies an object that appears meaningless to many, but draws him closer to a sense of what feels like home. The pawnshop owner tells Alexie he has twenty four hours to turn his five dollars into nearly one thousand if he intends on purchasing this piece of his past back. Alexie knows this will be difficult, but he sets out to do so anyway. Throughout the story he comes in contact with various people who he tries to get to help him, however, his deep desire to help others finds it hard to keep what little he has to himself, especially when he sees people who he thinks could do more with it than he. Introducing this narrative, the author allows a contrast to be drawn between the worldly idea of greed and lust for wealth and Alexie’s cultural values of sharing. As the twenty four hours goes on, Alexie begins to run out of time. He returns to the shop with five dollars to his name once more, emotional but yet somewhat still determined. Upon entrance, he is greeted by the same pawnshop worked who he met originally. Asking for the price one last time, he realizes he has no other option to admit that he does not have enough to cover the requested amount. But this time the worker asked him if he worked hard for the money, to which he responds with a quick yes. Considering that it wasn’t the same five dollars and that he did indeed work hard to regain this heirloom, the worker retrieves the regalia and tells the narrator to take it and that he doesn’t want his money any longer. This story expresses a contrast in cultures, roots of identity, and shifts of perception. The pawnshop worker responded out of greed and with a lack of understanding when first consulting with the narrator desiring to purchase the regalia. But when shown the lengths to which someone would go to within the short time period of twenty four hours, influences a shift of perception within the worker, ultimately allowing the narrator to receive what he wanted. Coming from a place of pure intentions and motivated by a longing for a sense of home resulted in the retrieval of the regalia.