Smoke Signals Dialogue

What do you think about the relationship between Thomas and Victor?

     The relationship between Victor and Thomas reminds me of the relationships of brothers who live with seperate parents have.  They are both raised in the same area, know the same people, and have known the same people throughout their lives, but the way they were raised makes Victor hate Thomas.  Since Victor's parents were young, alcoholics, and his father was abusive, he developed a hatred of his life on the reservation, but eventually succumbed to reservation life and became a sloth by the time he was a young adult.  Thomas' parents passed away in the fire at the beginning of the movie, so he was raised by his grandmother, who appears to be more traditional and is definately more mature than Victor's parents.  Thomas' grandmother obviously spent a lot of time with him, raising him to be a respectful, intelligent man, and she passed her tribes traditions on to him and taught him how to be a traditional Native.  The differences between the two, Victor's hatred for his childhood, particularly the situation surrounding his father, and Thomas' pride in being a Native American and admiration of Victor's father made Victor resent Thomas.
     It is not until Victor's father passes, that him and Thomas' relationship begins to grow into a relationship that tight brothers would share.  At the beginning of the trip to recover Arnold's ashes and belongings, there was still a lot of friction between the two which is all caused by Victor because he doesn't like the way Thomas is.  It is easy to see why Victor felt this way; growing up, Victor learned that you have to look tough and be tough, nothing else matters.  Since Thomas was anything but tough, Victor felt Thomas was wrong and portrayed himself in a bad way as a Native.  Throughout the trip, Victor attempts to instill his beliefs on the way Natives should be into Thomas; Thomas attempts to learn more about Victor's feelings towards his father and shares fictional stories of Victor's father with him which only upsets Victor.  Though Victor is often upsetted by the way Thomas is on their journey, they begin to know each other more than they ever had during this short period, and their bond begins to grow.
     After leaving Arnold's home in Arizona, Thomas and Victor's fight that ends in a car accident, their bond as brothers is sealed.  This is proven by the fact that even though Arnold is the reason Thomas' parents died in the house fire at the beginning of their lives, he says nothing to Thomas about it.  The reason he doesn't tell Thomas isn't only to defend his father's name, but also to retain the relationship that him and Thomas gained on their trip.  When they arrive back home, Thomas and Victor share a moment as Thomas is being dropped off.  They both have the same plan for Arnold's ashes, and they have an "inner" understanding that the relationship that they gained on that journey, will be the relationship they'll have for the rest of their lives.