Conflict Between the Oral Tradition and the Written Form in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
             The oral tradition of passing along history, information and stories of culture have been around since the beginning of time. In many cultures today, oral traditions are still the main means of passing down knowledge and history. Several problems arise from the oral tradition as a use of passing along of a people's heritage. Often as it is passed down from generation to generation some information is left out or forgotten. At this point problems arise between the written word and oral tradition. Many Native Americans still use it as a means to carry on the history of their society. The Native Americans are masters of telling stories. They are one of the few peoples without any trouble in keeping the oral tradition alive. They use the oral tradition as a means of enlightening those who have not witnessed the past. The Native Americans carry it close to their hearts. The oral tradition is where their heroes are born. The passing down of their culture through the oral tradition helps to keep their autonomy, yet many Native Americans have abandoned the practice of oral tradition to adapt to modern times and the written word. In his novel The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sherman Alexie demonstrates how he Native American population has kept the practice of passing along their heritage through the oral tradition despite the movement to the written word by most of society.
             The Indians have always used the oral tradition as a way of immortalizing their heroes. Whether it is a mighty Plains Indian on the hunt over a hundred years ago or a young high school basketball player playing the game of their life. Every time one of the stories is told it is exaggerated a little, making the character or characters in the story greater each time. Of course there are always downfalls though as each of the legenda...