In “Assimilation,” Mary Lynn, a middle-class Indian woman who is married to a white man, is overcome with the need to cheat on her husband because he is white. Half-jokingly, she refers to this desire as a “carnal form of affirmative action.” She senses its significance as both an antidote to her feelings of entrapment and an opportunity to unite with her Indian roots. Her desire ultimately brings her to a local coffee shop, where she quickly seduces a scarred Indian worker (with a generous helping of pudge) whom she takes to a cheap motel. Afterwards, she feels denied the release that she so desperately craved, and instead feels underwhelmed and cynical with men in general. Later in the day when she and her husband are driving home, they encounter a suicide. He rushed off to investigate, and the temporary loneliness makes Mary realize that all the reasons she cheated on her husband are the things she loves most about him.
Sherman Alexie, the writer, immediately sets the tone of the story, creating a dramedy of sorts. However, obviously topics like infidelity and racial isolation are not inherently funny. Much in the form of "Death of a Salesman," we (the readers) experience a dramatic situation whose humor lies in the absurdity of how it is presented.
Mary Lynn is a very intelligent, yet very cynical woman who feels out of place in society and, more importantly, her own life. Much of the Pathos in this story is established by making Mary a character the reader can relate to. She is tired of the blandness that she associates with being married to a white man and falls prey to her own ethnic stereotype; the image of the strong, solitary, noble savage Native American man. When this too failed to give her life the spark of excitement she craved, she realizes how much she cherishes the value of being constant.
Alexie utilizes rhetoric very concisely, and rarely minces words. The refrain, "She decided to hate [all men]. Hate, hate, hate, she thought, and then she let her hate go."(p.486), is repeatedly used. This represents a mantra of sorts, and gives the reader precious insight into how Mary deals with adversity. My interpretation of this line is that the easiest way to respond to an emotion is to embrace it fully, and then let it pass over you. The line itself beckons to the rather famous "Litany against Fear," that was used throughout the Dune series.
"Assimilation," has helped give me a new perspective on the lives and struggles of Native Americans trying to find their place in America. This story illustrates how a sense of ethnic isolation can become a powerful enough force that it can make people commit acts they would have otherwise thought impossible.
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