Reservation Blues
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Themes
All Themes Race, Culture, and Identity Hope, Despair, and the Blues Alcoholism and Patterns of Suffering Storytelling, History, and the Spiritual Community, Friendship, and Love
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Thomas Builds-the-Fire Junior Polatkin Victor Joseph Chess (Eunice) Warm Water Checkers (Gladys) Warm Water Big Mom Robert Johnson David WalksAlong Father Arnold Betty Veronica Phil Sheridan George Wright Mr. Armstrong The-man-who-was-probably-Lakota
Symbols
All Symbols Guitars Horses
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Reservation Blues

by

Sherman Alexie

Upgrade to A+
Introduction Intro
Plot Summary Plot
Summary & Analysis
  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5
  • Chapter 6
  • Chapter 7
  • Chapter 8
  • Chapter 9
  • Chapter 10
Themes
  • All Themes
  • Race, Culture, and Identity Theme Icon
    Race, Culture, and Identity
  • Hope, Despair, and the Blues Theme Icon
    Hope, Despair, and the Blues
  • Alcoholism and Patterns of Suffering Theme Icon
    Alcoholism and Patterns of Suffering
  • Storytelling, History, and the Spiritual Theme Icon
    Storytelling, History, and the Spiritual
  • Community, Friendship, and Love Theme Icon
    Community, Friendship, and Love
Quotes
Characters
  • All Characters
  • Thomas Builds-the-Fire
  • Junior Polatkin
  • Victor Joseph
  • Chess (Eunice) Warm Water
  • Checkers (Gladys) Warm Water
  • Big Mom
  • Robert Johnson
  • David WalksAlong
  • Father Arnold
  • Betty
  • Veronica
  • Phil Sheridan
  • George Wright
  • Mr. Armstrong
  • The-man-who-was-probably-Lakota
Symbols
  • All Symbols
  • Guitars Symbol Icon
    Guitars
  • Horses Symbol Icon
    Horses
Theme Wheel Theme Viz
Download this Chart (PDF)
Download the Teacher Edition
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Reservation Blues Study Guide

It's easy to cite LitCharts for use in academic papers and reports.


MLA

Lorenz, Ben. "Reservation Blues." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 9 May 2016. Web. 22 May 2025.


Chicago

Lorenz, Ben. "Reservation Blues." LitCharts LLC, May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2025. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/reservation-blues.

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