Forgiving Forgetting

Humans are forced to pay for what their ancestors have given to them.  Why should one have to pay? Why should one want to forgive themselves or their ancestors?  As Thomas says in the beginning of the film Smoke Signals;  "How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever."
Born into pain.  People cannot simply choose their lives. Thomas says in Smoke Signals "You know, there are some children who art really children at all. Theory just pillars of flame that burn every thing they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that they fall apart if you'd touch em. Me and victor, we were children of flame and ash. Someone that is born into pain is typically very weak. and as a result of that, they may feel like they destroy every thing around them or get destroyed by every thing around them emotionally.  One way to heal from this situation is to simply not take anything that has happened in the past or is currently happening too seriously. To recognize it, but not pick at it. Thomas is a good example of this, because even though he lost both of his parents, he does not let it get to him. He understands it happened, but does not focus on the facts too much. "Sometimes its a good day to die, sometimes its a good day to eat breakfast" He is starting out by saying something depressing and serious, but ending with a way to bring things back to a lighthearted place which his mind is in. There is a time in every ones life, when they must come to understand an emotional wound and why it happened. That is where the journey of healing begins.

It has been proven that Human communication is the hardest thing people do on a daily basis. Why? Several reasons. One being that it depends on the outlook that person has, meaning their mood. When someones outlook is bad it projects on someone else, giving them a bad outlook, the cycle continues. It shows a great example of this in the film Smoke Signals, Arnold Joseph has been racially profiled his whole life giving him a bad outlook "Back then Arnold Joseph was a hippy but that was ok because back then most hippies were trying to be Indians any way!" Therefore projecting these thoughts on his son Victor Joseph, and eventually leaving his family as a result. This makesVictor bitter, and gives him a bad outlook on life. Victor is usually trying to spread his outlook on other people like Thomas for example but he can seem to get through to him. Thomas says "Hey Victor Hows your Dad?"  Which only seems to make Victor's outlook even worse by binging back  memories about his father he wanted to vanish. Why would Thomas do that? he simply did not know. This is another reason why communication is hard. People simply do not know what other people will get offended by. Although Victors father was an alcoholic, that is something he did not pass down to his son. Victor says "I don't drink, never had a drop of alcohol in my life, not a drop." His father taught him not to drink by being a bad example. This is important, however still leaves him with emotional wounds. There are reasons why Communication is hard for Humans, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. By communicating, one can heal.