Sherman Alexie: Acquiring Knowledge

The 1960’s, when Sherman Alexie was born, was not an easy time for people of colored backgrounds. With the Civil Rights Movement and other movements for colored people, it must have been difficult for Native Americans to make it in life. By reading books and acquiring knowledge, even a Native American can be successful and “save his life.” Even though they were expected to fail during this time period, acquiring wisdom made them smarter in school, causing them to gain respect, not pity from whites. Alexie tries to express the idea that reading books can give one knowledge, therefore allowing them, white or colored, to be successful in life to “save their life.” Alexie believes that by reading books, he “saves his life” and becomes successful, inspiring other Indians in his society to follow his path and “save their lives.” Alexie explains that some of the Native American kids refused to follow in his footsteps to success and refused to “save their lives.” He inspires all the other kids and “saves their lives” by inspiring them to read books and write stories, but he could not help those who refuse the help. First, he “saved his life” and became a well-known, successful author by reading books to gain knowledge . Then,
Through reading countless books that were all higher than the required levels of readings at his school, he acquired a vast sea of knowledge. He created a name for himself as an established writer because of all the knowledge he acquired from reading. Reading books allowed him to further advance him as a reader, letting his grasp the structure and diction of famous books. With that, he could become a successful writer and make it in life to “save his life.” Saving himself inspired others in his community to save themselves leading to an endless chain of saving