After a fellow Native American describes his father's ritual, he exclaims, "I mean, come on, I'm a loser...my whole family is filled of losers” (36). The parallel structure of the two sentences creates what the man believes to be a truthful statement masked by a mocking tone. In order to deal with the man's true thoughts towards his Native American family, he comically throws an insult. As the narrator wonders about the hospital, another individual asks why his father had to have his feet cut off. The man asks if it was caused by "pure vodka or with a nostalgia chaser?" He answers: “Both.” “Natural causes for an Indian” (37). The characters' short dialect illustrates the frequency of alcoholism in Native American society. The casualness with which they speak about such a damaging issue indicates that they are coping with their cultural problem by acting as usual, which dissociates them from other Native Americans. When they continue talking, the narrator thinks, “That guy was talking crazy. I immediately liked it” (36). Both men do not fully understand their Native American integrity, so they are embarrassed by it. To alleviate their embarrassment, they say things on impulse, never knowing whether or not they are true aspects of Native American culture. By “talking like crazy,” they manage to hide the fact that they feel a loss of identity with their own people..