Sherman Alexie Biography

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.

In modern times, Native Americans are often overlooked and even looked down upon. In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, the author writes about the life of one particular Native American. Overall, the story is about Victor Joseph, the protagonist, and his personal growth throughout the duration of his life and life struggles. In the beginning, it is said that Victor’s father leaves his family. This conflict really had a long term effect on Victor and also on Thomas Builds-the-Fire, another main character. All in all, Sherman Alexie displays the use of flashbacks and personal conflicts to build the main plot.

“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.

In the first branch of his essay, Sherman Alexie explains growing up as a native american boy in a impoverished house hold with his dad. Who had a addiction to books, and one of those books would change Alexies's life forever. He picked up the book and something inside him sparked, though he didn't know

In his narrative "The Joy of Reading and Writing; Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie aims to explore the terrible school conditions Indian students face on poor Indian reservations. Alexie taught himself to read at a young age and became a skilled reader and writer because of this. However, Alexie was widely feared amongst the other Indian kids; often he was asked not to answer when the non-Indian teachers asked a question. Refusing to fail, Alexie heightened his reading and writing abilities and became a well published author. Alexie later returned to Indian reservations and taught the students the joys of reading and writing; he attempts to remove the barriers to success that Indian children face.

Victor and Thomas Builds-the-Fire were the same age, had grown up and played in the dirt together. Ever since Victor could remember, it was Thomas who always had something to say.

The fact that Alexie does not mention the reservation John was born in, or even the hospital is vital in foring the reader to understand John’s lost of belonging. The generic descriptions make the reader curious and even angry that the exact details of John’s birth are unknown, which are the exact same feelings that John might possess. This helps the reader understand the disconnection that John has with his biological parents, and portrays the metaphorical hole John experiences.

When Junior received the devastating news that his sister passed away, he discovers two reactions, one from his family and another from his peers at Reardan. Upon returning home after hearing the news, Junior finds his mother crying to him and begging him to never leave her. In addition, his father’s reaction, in the car, was shocked, almost to the point of being calm. However, at Reardan, he gains support from his peers who are not crying about the death of Juniors sister, but about what Junior has lost. Alexie wrote, “I walked inside, into the crowded hallways, and all sorts of boys and girls, and teachers, came up and hugged me and slapped my shoulder and gave me little punches in the belly. They were worried for me. They wanted to help

He tells a story of his childhood and the story of learning to read and write as a Spokane Indian. His love for reading came from his father, initially, who also enjoyed reading. Alexie would take his father’s books and teach himself to read starting out with Superman comic books. Outside the Indian culture, Indians were expected to be unintelligent

The arrival of Europeans and their expansion across North America negatively affected the Native American people’s culture, politics, religion, economy, and population.

There is dark humor in this essay. He does this to make it be serious and have people see his pain from his memories. Alexie leads his humor on people who make his life miserable. “Betty Towle, missionary teacher, redheaded and so ugly that no one ever had a puppy crush on her made me stay in for recess fourteen days straight ( Sherman Alexie)” Then he describes her as a witch when he draws a picture of her. Bringing back this memories calms the pain he felt and it also adds a humorous feature of his teachers. In first grade he describes the names his bullies would name him “Cries Like A White Boy” which brings a dark humor. His humor involves on his life being Native American.

But he made it and now is a famous author. Sherman Alexie encouraged people to be proud of their heritage through their literary works including “Inside Dachau”, The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian, and Ten Little Indians The first text from Sherman Alexie is the poem “Inside Dachau” made people be proud of their heritage. This poem is about Jewish people going back to the camp Dachau were their ancestors were tourchered and killed. All that they were asking for was an apology.

As “We sense that the main pursuit of Alexie’s writings is to explicate tendency of Indians in today’s American society and to show his pride of becoming an Indian.” (Md. Amir Hossain, S.M. Abu Nayem Sarker) He shows this in most of his books like The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. It is shown in these works that he is showing the world what life is like being an indian on the reservation is like, and what kind of pride it brings him. “He is recognized as an innovative realist and erudite contributor to the modern Native-American tradition.”

On the other hand, Sherman Alexie tends to describe more about the Indian society in his poems. The poem “What the Orphan Inherits” demonstrates the various important aspects of the life of an Indian. He describes how language, names, alcohol, time, and tradition are viewed in a general society, or in other words in every part of the world. To accomplish a

that Sherman Alexie is a Native American poet, novelist, and performer. Sherman Alexie 's key characteristics to his writing are irony and dark humor. Sherman Alexie’s main focus in his writing is his experience as a Native American.