Victor

Outer characterization

Victor is one of the main characters in the short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie. Victor is a Native American young man who lives on a reservation with his mother and the rest of his family. The beginning of the story reveals that Victor has “lost his job at the BIA” (p. 1, l. 1) and that he is poor (p. 1, ll. 7-8). Victor’s father left the family when Victor was rather young, and he “hadn’t seen his father in a few years, only talked to him on the telephone once or twice” (p. 1, ll. 2-3). The narrative suggests that Victor and Thomas were not only friends but also cousins (p. 3, l. 12).

Inner characterization

Victor is mainly characterized by an inner turmoil caused by his father abandoning the family. The beginning of the story shows that, despite the distance between him and his father, Victor still experiences “a genetic pain, which was soon to be pain as real and immediate as a broken bone” (p. 1, ll. 3-4). Although the story does not clearly explain this, there are several clues that hint that Victor’s father left when Vict...