Sherman Alexie's Superman And Me

In the short narrative “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie utilizes his own personal anecdotes to explain the importance of education. The blending of personal experiences with what Alexie sees as the truths of life fortify the story’s strong desire to drill the idea that education is one of the most important necessities to living a successful life. Delineating specifics of his own life allowed Alexie to properly convey what he was attempting to translate to the audience. Coupled with the implementation of many literary techniques, Alexie’s personal anecdotes in “Superman and Me” were astonishingly effective at emanating the importance of education.

Originally published in 1997 in the book The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the

One of these techniques it makes use of is repetition. For example, it often repeats "I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky. I was trying to save my life." (Alexie, 357). The repeated use of this throughout the essay makes its point apparent and more impactful every time it's used as it's obviously highlighting the reoccurring theme it's pushing about success. This specific use is in reference to Alexie’s thoughts and experience of growing up as a Spokane Indian boy. These words emphasize his desire to escape from the low expectations placed onto him by other, more privileged people. Then later, at the end of the piece, Alexie states “I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” (Alexie, 258). This very slight change to the wording reflects much more than the outer appearance indicates. Alexie’s already succeeded in saving himself, saving his own education, now he wants to save the lives and education of others. This specific repetition connects two very different points of the story to empower the final message of “Superman and Me” about the significance of education to everyone, regardless of race or social class. Repeating certain phrases and points is a method of forcefully making the reader recall specific phrases that the author diligently placed to exalt the thought they want the reader to think at certain points in their work, and “Superman and Me” makes full use of the potential repetition