Analyzing Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and me” Essay

Can reading save a man’s way of life? Can reading save an entire culture? Sherman Alexie, an Indian creative writer writes an essay of which he acquaints us of his means in learning how to read, that is, through a Superman comic book. The essay was written in an alternating first person and third person style of telling. The first person way of telling was for his reflection. Those sentences that were written in the first person were Alexie’s own sentiments. The third person style was for his people. Probably it was meant as an insult since people who normally speak in a third person style are often deemed unintelligent since they cannot follow the rules of language. As the essays retells the experience of the author of how he learned how to read, there is one topic of which he focused, and that is how reading (and how it is connected to education) made a different impact in his way of life which can be very significant or relevant to the modern world today whose kids are taking education for granted. Reading and education Reading is a cognitive process of connecting meaning to a group of words, sentences, and letters. Not many can take the time to discipline themselves into liking and having reading as a habit but over the years reading has become a standard of calling a person or treating a person literate. It has become a mean to elevate one’s status. However, based on Sherman Alexie’s essay, knowing how to read downgrades the status of an Indian person. Indians are treated as the Native Americans. They weren’t treated kindly as the natives of the new world as history tells. They were often treated as the group of people who struggles with the advancement of life. People who are not social. If Indians were compared to animals, the Indians were the wild animals. And according to Alexie’s essay, the ones who stays wild, are the ones who’s status are high in the Indian world. In the modern world today, education has been treated as one of the major concerns of nations. More and more, the value and the quality of education have gone low and people in advance nations and culture are taking it for granted. On the other hand, Alexie and his dad are examples of people who defy the norms of their own society. People who counteracts their culture thus forming a kind a heroic act or in times a crime for/to their own people. â€Å"I am trying to save our lives. † (Alexie 2). Alexie expressed his sentiment of saving their lives in two styles. One was personal and the other was towards the children he was teaching. While he defied the accustomed treatment of Indians to non-Indian education (i. e. how he had man arguments with his classmates to shut up his mouth towards the questions of the non-Indian teacher), he was hopeful that his people might change their attitude towards education (the reason why he ought to be a teacher among his people). In some ways, education defines how a person hopes for his worth. It is more than the status, it also creating an opportunity for one’s self and knowing how to use education in helping one feel fulfilled.