English 0900
June 18,2014
Superman and Me
The short story "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me," Sherman Alexie explains Alexie's life as a Indian boy and how reading and writing shaped his life into what it is today. Alexie begins the article by telling how his family and him lived on a reservation in Eastern Washington state. He begins on telling how his family is poor and lives off of “a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food.”
While growing up on the reservation, Alexie learns how to read by the use of Superman comic books. “I look at the narrative above the picture. I cannot read the words, but I assume it tells me that Superman is breaking down the door.” When he picks up the Superman comic books he begins to break down the dialogue and pictures for a better understanding of the text. Viewing the pictures and looking at what he called “words that were foreign” helped him to read and comprehend the reading. Alexie knows how to read while other Indian kids struggle to read basic words and vocabulary. “He reads Grapes of Wrath in kindergarten when other children are struggling through Dick and Jane.” Unlike many of the other Indian children, Alexie refused to fail in school. He always participated in class and never got intimated by other classmates. He always had to fight his classmates on a daily basis, “they wanted him to stay quiet when non-Indian teacher asked for answers, for volunteers, for help. We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid.” The kids were expected to fail, but Alexie was one of the few that didn’t give up. Alexie read everything and anything wherever he went. This is probably one of the reasons Alexie never failed in school, because he loved to learn, he wanted to be smart. Everyone should be saying things such as Alexie did like, "I refuse to fail. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky."
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