Sherman Alexie Analysis

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Recommended: The use of humor in literature

In the excerpt from Sherman Alexie’s novel, Alexie adopted the persona of an young boy named Junior. Junior’s blunt phrases such as, “What a bastard, huh?” demonstrate his comedic awkwardness but serve a greater purpose for the reader. Alexie’s use of Junior’s shocking remarks are meant to destigmatize Junior’s exposure of prejudice. Therefore, despite Junior’s blatant awkwardness, his sayings work to fulfill the writing’s ultimate purpose: to show the unfair treatment towards Native Americans. The excerpt begins to demonstrate how Junior has been different ever since he was born. Not only was he a Native American, but he was born with too much cerebral spinal fluid. In order to highlight his differences, Junior describes it as him being “born

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