Influences On Sherman Alexie's Life

Specifically, in paragraph seven, he uses short, concise sentences and clauses to get his point across. “I was lucky. I read books…” (217). His repetition of the word “I” and “I read” give the audience a sense of aggressive importance. Alexie stresses that he read books everywhere, naming quite a few places (which were not common areas to read) and even specific examples such as simple things like bulletin boards and magazine covers.

In the essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie tells us how an Indian boy sees himself differently from the other Indians because he grew to be successful not a failure. Alexie describes that he lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his family was very poor. He illustrates his love of books was his father who made him see the world in paragraphs. Although Alexie can't read words, he explains how reading a Superman comic help him from pretending to read aloud, teaching himself to read, and imagining what the word meant. Alexie explains how Indian children's expectation was failure such as being stupid and struggle to read were accepted by other Indians. He argues that failure was not an option because he

King claims that reading extensively makes for a better writer as through good and bad literature allows a writer to reflect on his own writing and improve his style. Yet Alexie rather is empowered quite differently by the knowledge he gains in reading literature. Alexie went against the stereotype for Indians at the time which still affects not only Indians but non-Indians as well. He is trying to make a point as to why he did not fail in the non-Indian world and that he deserved to succeed given how desperate he felt at times yet he did not accept fate given that he was considered “dangerous” (17). In doing so he works to change and save the lives of Indian kids but is unable to do so for all of them. He says, “They stare out the window. They refuse and resist. ‘Books,’ I say to them. ‘Books,’ I say” (18). Though the idea of empowerment may not be the same, it came from one source – books. This is how “a novel like The Grapes of Wrath may fill a new writer with feelings to…work harder and aim higher” (222), according to King, while a young Alexie “read “Grapes of Wrath” in kindergarten when other children are struggling through “Dick and Jane”” (17). Furthermore, Alexie stood out in a society which rather put him down for his race, which is not an equal comparison to how King stands out for social norms where he would rather read a novel “at meals” which “is considered

As he grew up to become a writer, we see pain in the story he tells. “I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life” (pg.18). Alexie wanted to be someone greater than what others expected him to be. People would put him down constantly, but he fought back just as much. He tried to save himself from the stereotypes of being just another dumb Indian. He had more determination to prove others wrong when it came too exceeding in reading to further excel in his daily life.

“Alexie is a stand-up comedian, a songwriter, a screenwriter and producer (notably of the acclaimed film Smoke Signals), and has served on the Presidential Panel for the National Dialogue on Race and on the board of directors for the American Indian College Fund”(“About Alexie” 197). This fact is according to Ploughshares that is an American Literary Magazine that’s about Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie wrote a book named The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and partially wrote traits of himself in one of the main characters named Junior but still didn’t include everything. One would have to think that Sherman Alexie and Junior have lots of character traits and physical traits that are in common but yet there is still lots missing.

There are some children, like the Indian boy in the short story that will simply not be given a chance to learn how to read and must adapt quickly to survive. Alexie took his fate into his own hands at an early age. Although the author never states the age of the boy, we are to imagine he is grade school age. Alexie states that the boy’s father had an extensive book collection from which he had taught himself how to read, but never mentions if the father had helped his son to learn to read. I imagine the father was too busy trying to support his family by working minimum wage jobs and finding work where he could find it. Needless to say, Alexie adapted well given his situation. These experiences give him accreditation with the reader,

Mr. Alexie describes his childhood as “lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food.” Even living in what some might call near poverty his father always had books staked all around the house. Sherman would pick up his father’s books even before he was able to understand them. When he started to read a comic book, he was able to decipher which words went with the images on the comic. He was able to teach himself to read this way. When he was in school, he was reading books way more advanced than his classmates did. He read everything he could find, not just books but cereal boxes, bulletin boards, and repair manuals. He could not seem to get enough to read.

Alexie's father was the reason he began to read which later became his passion. His father loved to read, and even though they did not have a ton of

Sherman Alexie was born in a poor family with 3 sisters and a brother. He got into books from his his dad because with any spare change his dad could get he would spend on buying books. Alexie would loving books so much that he says he sees the world as paragraphs. When he was born he was born with hydrocephalus which means water in the brain. When he was 6 months old Alexie had surgery because of the disease, he was expected to die.

Reading helped him see the standard of other people in society and how to get there. Just due to the fact that Alexie is a Native American, well off in society, and a writer makes him a role model to other Native Americans to read, become educated and maybe even become a writer just like Alexie. This would be rebelling against society's expectations for them to be simpletons as compared the white population. Education is the key to breaking the needed boundaries of social suppression of a minority. Keeping the Native Americans “poor

Buffalo Bill is one of three central images depicted in Alexie's "Evolution". In analyzing this character, Alexie's use of situational irony and sarcasm expresses the systematic exploitation of the of Native American people by the American government. As it stands, Alexie's crafts the image of Buffalo Bill as a cunningly, greedy, unscrupulous, and opportunistic business owner which is in direct conflict to the historical figure, known as Buffalo Bill, who actually hunted and exterminated many Native Americans because he considered them to be uncivilized savages; a popular sentiment expressed by many contemporaries of the day. However, Alexie's presented imagery of Buffalo Bill is more palatable to the American psyche while at the same time serving as an ironic confirmation for Native American people. Moreover, Alexie's Buffalo Bill's character is still in alignment with the

He even explains this when he says, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (Alexie 279). Alexie’s upbringing shows the reader that he was not wealthy, but he was still able to be exposed to massive amounts of literature and therefore could contribute to his education. His family’s wealth could be attributed to less opportunity in life, but in this case, it was not.

In the beginning of the essay, Alexie talks about how knowledge is a power that opens a window to success by using an anecdote about his personal experience with knowledge. As Alexie talks about his childhood in the beginning, he says, “We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food...” (Alexie). When Alexie discusses the conditions his family lived in, he is setting this frame of pity that makes the reader understand that education wasn’t the first thing on their mind, but what they we’re going to eat next. Later on in the beginning, Alexie explains how his father surrounded him with books and how his love for books started. His love for books was sparked from the love his father had for books. Alexie states this when he says, “...My father loved books...I loved my father...I decided to love books as well...” (Alexie). Alexie also explains how he didn’t understand at first when he first picked up a book but soon learned that “The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose...this knowledge delighted me. I began to think of everything in terms of paragraphs...”(Alexie). This could be seen as a power because although he doesn’t understand, he’s learning how to understand what he’s reading and this could count as one of his first steps to success. As Alexie explains his personal experience with knowledge, he proves how he is an example of

Alexie precisely provides his reading process to the audience. On the other hand, it also proves that he breaks the block of lacking knowledge. In fact, “the Superman” refers to himself. Alexie asserts his point that he transforms his destiny from poverty to success by reading, and he retells his experience to other Indian boys to save their lives instead of enduring in a tough situation. Accordingly, he regards himself as hero, for he saves both those Indian boys’ lives and his own life. Moreover, when Alexie repeats the sentence of “breaking down the door”, it relates to he attempts to break through the obstacle of education. He does not obtain a decent education background; however, he can change this circumstance by reading.

Growing up as a Native American boy on a reservation, Sherman Alexie was not expected to succeed outside of his reservation home. The expectations for Native American children were not very high, but Alexie burst out of the stereotype and expectations put by white men. Young Native Americans were not expected to overcome their stereotypes and were forced to succumb to low levels of reading and writing “he was expected to fail in a non-Indian world” (Alexie 3), but Alexie was born with a passion for reading and writing, so much so that he taught himself to read at age three by simply looking at images in Marvel comics and piecing the words and pictures together. No young Native American had made it out of his reservation to become a successful writer like he did. This fabricates a clear ethos for Alexie, he is a perfect underdog in an imperfect world.