Category Archives: “Superman & Me” Response

Superman and Me Response

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In “Superman and Me” the author struggles as a child. However this did not stop him from learning to read so many books. He motivated himself to read other sources whether it was poetry, novels, newspapers, magazines, or anything he can get his hands on. Through reading, he gained more knowledge and applied this to his academics. He explains how Indian kids are expected to be “stupid”, how they look down when confronted by a non-Indian adult, and that smart Indians are widely feared by others. Unfortunately, this is accepted by Indians and disgraced by non-Indians. The author did not let this deter him from perseverance. In fact, it motivated him to read more and later become a writer himself.

Superman and Me response

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Superman and Me Response

By Christine Mitchell

 

Like so many people before us struggling to fight against the stereotype people may have of you when living in a certain environment, to prove them differently. People naturally assume because you are from poverty that you will never amount to anything, that you have no future. When reading superman and me Sherman Alexie describes the story of an Indian boy who found the love of reading and realized reading was the key to put aside the stereotype and expectations his people had to fail. When reading this story I was able to relate insistently, someone that’s battling to prove to myself as well as to others that just because you grew up in a certain neighborhood doesn’t mean you have to be a product of your environment.

Growing up in a spoken Indian reservation in the eastern Washington state, living poor and pay to pay check expected to be stupid and have no strive for better. The author  describes an Indian boy who seen the love his father had for reading and being that he loved his father dearly he decided to share that same love. With a growing love for reading, the boy thought to himself some would call him a prodigy if he wasn’t some Indian boy growing up in the reservation. Living in the reservation being a smart Indian boy was frowned upon, which lead to many fights on a daily basis with his classmates, but that didn’t stop him. He continued on to broaden his love for books and reading, and went on to become a writer.

One part that stood out to me was when he said “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant”, just because his people felt the need not to do/ be better themselves, why shouldn’t he. Why should he just become another Indian boy who has no hope for the future before him?  I love how even though his community may not have had that same motivation he still tries to instilled it within them. He didn’t forget where he came, he took that knowledge he has learned, and went back and took it to his people. I feel the purpose the Arthur had for this story is no matter where you come from, no matter what people expect of you always strive for the best. The only person that can stop your future is you.

superman and me

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Vanessa Espin

Superman and me by Sherman Alexie

As I started reading, I thought the story was going to be about someone with a passion for comic books. But after the first paragraph I realized that it was much more deeper and complex then that. This story gives the reader a clear picture of perseverance. It connect it with me by leading me into his shoes, the story of a small boy who picked up a book and found a scape from the future that his community and family had written for him. He refused to live under their expectations and decided to take the first step to eliminate a stereotype that his own people had brought upon themselves. The author finishes the story with a desperate need to open your eyes and make you see that a brighter future is always starring right at you.

I found it compelling when he said, “He might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservations and is simply an oddity.” As if he felt that his own people were not giving him any support, instead he was known as a person who is weird and not worth admiring. In their eyes he was a failure.

I also found interesting when he said “ I say to them “books” I say. I throw my weight against their locked doors. The doors hold. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” This is a very strong message. He is giving his everything to make children understand that there is always a way out and is threw knowledge. It is the answer to their insecurities and doubts.

I believe the author wrote this story to send very important message to the reader. That no matter the situation a person might find itself in, education is the key to success and progress. This country offers free education and opportunities so why are we ignoring it. We should realize how lucky and fortunate we are and stop letting people crush or interrupt our dreams.

Superman & Me – Cesar Peña

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Observations:

  • He wasn’t exactly interested in the Super hero “superman”, the comic book just happened to be what he first read
  • He decided to love reading because his father loved to read
  • He began to see things rationally, or in paragraphs and compare the real world life as a story written in paragraphs
  • He first learned to read by interpreting pictures in his own words
  • He talks about his person as being seen as a stereotype in the community that he grew up in
  • He chose to prove that stereotype wrong
  • He seems to be the first of his kind to do what he has done and break the stereotype of his Indian culture

2 Compelling Moments:

  • I found it Interesting when he said “Those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians.” Indians like himself were expected to fail as if it was the norm to follow what every indian has been doing for years, which is fail, and when they did fail they were applauded as if there was nothing better they could have done.
  • I also found it compelling when he repeated, “I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life.” He was trying to save his life from the life that awaited him; A poor indian who doesn’t succeed in the big world full of knowledge that everyone was capable of learning something from and just obeying the orders and negative criticism of the non-indians.

Question about the text:

  • Did he choose to read everything that he can get his hands on because he thought everything he read was some type of knowledge?

Author’s Purpose:

I believe Sherman Alexie’s main purpose in this text is to emphasize how important it is to become who you want to become and not live by the norm or the stereotype that society places on our cultures. There are many people who don’t know how to start stepping out of that stereotypical zone simply because they don’t how to take the first step. In this reading Alexie explains that the first step doesn’t have to be the most difficult one. In his case, the first step was simply picking up a random comic book and start interpreting pictures. Alexie tries to further pass this idea by going back to his older schools and trying to teach the children who are now in the position he was many years ago, that the key to all knowledge is in Books.