What Is The Theme Of Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie

I have chosen “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie to discuss about. This literacy narrative first appeared in “The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the pleasures of Reading.” Sherman Alexie is a well known Native American writer that publishes short stories, novels and poetry. Out of the three narratives, I found myself connect with this story more than the others. Alexie tells us about his childhood as a Indian boy that grew up on the Reservation. His father was a big reader so as a kid he’s always had an interest in books and eventually it became a passion. As he advanced in reading at an early age, peers would have difficulty with the content he has already achieved. Other kids would frown upon him because it was out of the
ordinary for an Indian to be smart. Children on the Reservation were expected to be unsuccessful, however, Alexie refused to let himself fail. Throughout his obstacles in life, he ended up becoming a writer and now, visits schools on the Reservation to make sure children get as much education as possible. He wants children to know that it's possible to succeed because reading saved his life and it could save theirs as well. Sherman Alexie uses mainly emotional appeal and repetitive descriptions throughout his narrative to give more of an understanding of how “reading saved his life” Alexie introduces the audience by explaining about his childhood and growing up on the Reservation.
“We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another, which made us middle-class by reservation standards. I had a brother and three sisters. We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food.” (p356) Telling us this part of his life means allows us to realize that he’s had a rough childhood. By using the word “managed” it made it seemed like it was always a struggle but somehow his family found a way to pull it together. The last sentence about hope and fear was there to ensure us that there were reasons why his life was hard while living on the reservation because of the situations his family was put through. He’s trying to make an emotional connection to the audience. Later on, he tells us a in particular paragraph in 3rd person that, “If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity.” (p357) With this sentence, he was referring to how kids thought it was strange for him to be intelligent and it wasn’t the norm to be that way. He’s making a connection to if he was anybody else but a minority, then he would have been acknowledged for his talents. So for us, as the audience, we make an emotional connection because he struggled fitting in and being
smart wasn’t a Reservation norm.

After reading the short story multiple times, I’ve noticed that Alexie likes to use a lot of descriptive and repetitive sentences. The reason why Alexie got into reading was because his father. Alexie said, “My father, who is one of the few Indians who went to Catholic school on purpose, was an avid reader of westerns, spy thrillers, murder mysteries, gangster epics, basketball player biographies and anything else he could find.” To describe someone as an “avid” reader, you would need some descriptive examples so that the audience understands how and Alexie lists those examples without hesitation. It shows what an in depth reader Alexie’s father was because it appears that his father would read different books of all genres. Just like describing what kind of books his father read, Alexie towards the end of the book describes where he would read, “...I read books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open. I read books at recess, then during lunch, and in the few minutes left after I had finished my classroom assignments. I read books in the car when my family traveled to powwows or basketball games. In shopping malls, I ran to the bookstores and read bits and pieces of as many books as I could. I read the books my father brought home from the pawnshops and secondhand. I read the books I borrowed from the library. I read the backs of cereal boxes. I read the newspaper. I read the bulletins posted on the walls of the school, the clinic, the tribal offices, the post office. I read junk mail. I read auto-repair manuals. I read magazines. I read anything that had words and paragraphs. I read with equal parts joy and desperation…”(p357) Every sentence starts with, “I read” except one “In shopping malls, I ran to the bookstores and read bits and pieces of as many books as I could.” and you don’t really notice it because there’s so much repetitiveness around but he wanted to break apart the “I read” and explain a situation that has occurred. With this long paragraph, he interpreted that reading is everywhere and it’s important to have knowledge because it surrounds everyone, even Indians in the Reservation.

He specifically wrote this story for the Indians on the Reservation.
He’s gone through the experience so it has a little bit of meaning to him. He overcame the norm because the Indian society thought it was unacceptable or wasn’t possible to become successful. He wants his audience to know that he’s been in the same situation they’ve been in but there’s always hope. Towards the very end of the book, he claims that he visits schools as much as possible because when he was younger he didn’t get the opportunity. He approaches this by explaining two sides of classrooms. “Many are writing their own poems, short stories and novels. They have read my books. They have read many other books. They look at me with bright eyes and arrogant wonder. They are trying to save their lives.”(p358) These children who were just like him when he was younger, that had an interest and wanted to change something about their life instead of being a stereotypical Indian. “Then there are the sullen and already defeated Indian kids who sit in the back rows and ignore me with theatrical precision. The pages of their notebooks are empty. They carry neither pencil nor pen. They stare out the window. They refuse and resist. “Books,” I say to them. “Books,” I say. I throw my weight against their locked doors. The door holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.”(p358) These are the students who don’t have much of an interest but Alexie is still trying to get through to these
children because books made a difference in his life and he doesn’t want these kids to grow up without education on reading and writing. He gives a difference aspect of two different situations because he’s dealing with two types of audiences when he’s in the classroom. He uses the word “our” for the first time but this time, he’s mentioning it to every kid. He hopes to have an impact in the audience.