Search Engine and Frank Snake Church Kernal Essay 9/6

Both “Whatever Happened to Frank Snake Church?” and “Search Engine” from Sherman Alexie’s “Ten Little Indians” are about the main character truly finding themselves. In the beginning of both stories neither of main characters realize the true meaning behind their treacherous journeys. Frank and Corliss deal with different situations in their stories, but in the end they both find something out about themselves that they never knew before. I believe it definitely takes time to find yourself again after something tragic happens.

Frank Snake Church deals with the loss of his parents. As he tries to cope he meets many new people along the way who help him find himself again. The first thing he decides to do is to start going to the gym in order to play basketball well again and get in shape. “Trying to move exactly like his father, to honor his father through muscle memory…” (Alexie 204). I think at first he thought he was doing this to prove to his Dad that he could and to honor him, but later he realized it was for himself.

Corliss has a similar journey. She has to deal with her family’s negative opinions of poetry, which is what she loves. When she finds out Harlan Atwater, who she took so long to find, is not at all what she had expected it changes her views of everything. People can make a person feel like they are supposed to be a certain way because of stereotypes. Because Corliss was Indian she dealt with this. Not just from regular people, but also from her family.

In both stories, the main characters both had people come into their lives who changed their perspective on life and how they looked at things. These people are so important in the main characters’ lives because they help the protagonists grow and eventually find themselves.