Rising from the ashes

At the end of This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, Thomas says something really beautiful. When Victor gives him the cardboard box containing the second half of his father's ashes, Thomas "took the ashes and smiled, closed his eyes, and told this story: “I’m going to travel to Spokane Falls one last time and toss these ashes into the water. And your father will rise like a salmon, leap over the bridge, over me, and find his way home. It will be beautiful. His teeth will shine like silver, like a rainbow. He will rise, Victor, he will rise.”"

I thought the imagery was very vibrant and powerful, but more importantly, I think that Thomas's story conveyed a message. There’s an expression that goes "Rise like a phoenix from the ashes", and I felt that was what Thomas's story symbolized. Figuratively, the expression means to emerge from a struggle or tragedy, stronger and more powerful. The phoenix is meant to represent that no matter what a person has gone through in their life, they will make it through and survive. (Also super random but I thought it was cool that ‘Phoenix’ is also in the title..)

In this sense, both Thomas and Victor will rise from their own ashes. Each of them are going through something (Thomas always having been an outcast, and Victor loses his job the same day his father dies of a heart attack), but they will make it through in the end, stronger than before. It is Thomas who enters Victor's life at the right moment, helping him rise up from his difficult situation. He gives him money to get his father's ashes. He tells him stories on the way to his trailer of the good memories he had of Victor's father. 

Even the ending of the story kind of hints at somewhat of a closure for the both of them, when Victor promises Thomas that one day, he will listen to just one more story. They both seem satisfied with this agreement, and Victor drives away.