Sherman Alexie's Superman And Me

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Superman and Me is a short written piece written by Sherman Alexie. The overall context is interesting as it is about a boy who has a talent for reading yet seems disoriented. The passage gives background information of the boy and how his ethnicity made him different from everyone else ‘[an] Indian boy living with his family’. He slowly explains his talent of reading and how by the age of 3 he was able to read, which is extremely interesting. By the time he was in kindergarden he was reading Grapes of Wrath while the other kids were struggling to read Dick and Jane demonstrating his potential when it came to reading complicated and higher level books for his age. However, there was also a sense of loneliness and alienation as he describes …show more content…

He goes around visiting schools to ‘teach creative writing to indian kids’ which could be seen as a good act from him to his community but could also be seen as hypocrisy. Throughout the entire passage he did not want to be labeled as an indian kid as he had more potential than the typical stereotype of indian boys. The fact that he has gone back to teach the indian kids makes the division even more clear portraying an indian teacher with his indian students. He should’ve broken the stereotype by teaching non-indian kids whilst demanding the same amount of respect. Throughout the passage he kept on repeating “I was trying to save my life” making the reader wonder what he was trying to save himself from, was it from society and its expectations towards indian kids or did it have a deeper meaning? There was another sentence which was said repeatedly enhancing the passage by letting the reader know how the main character feels “I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky.” Further characterizing him as an arrogant individual who believes he has the power to change the stereotype for indian

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