Traces of Similarities among Different Worlds
Bobbie Ann Mason and Sherman Alexie are two modern authors who write about their different childhood experiences and their hopes and desires for futures outside of the customs they were accustomed to. In her 1999 excerpt “Being Country” from her book Clear Springs: A Memoir, author and essayist Mason describes her childhood on a farm in rural Kentucky. Despite her childhood being pleasant, she rebelled against the simplistic confines that type of lifestyle demanded (106). Alexie writes in his essay from 1997 “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” of life on the Spokane Indian Reservation where he was born. He tells us how he used his love of reading as a way to escape from the Indian world and found success outside of the reservation. Even though they came from different cultures, Alexie and Mason were exposed at a young age to similar outside influences that helped shape their self-identities. As a result, they both envisioned futures that were not only ambitious but different from the lives they had been born into.
As the contrasts and similarities of these two authors are examined, the biggest differences between them are their economic and cultural backgrounds which would later play a part in their future hopes and aspirations. Alexie describes growing up in Washington State where poverty was the norm on the reservation he grew up on. He says “We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another, which made us middle-class by reservation standards….We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food” (45). On the other hand, Mason relates how she grew up in Kentucky on her f...
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...sting story all by itself. A little Indian
Furthermore, these strong influences to their childhood socialization would impart both Alexie and Mason with the desire and the determination to make something of themselves.
Together they shared the same determination of achieving a level of success that was not possible in the societies they lived in and dreamed of lives away from
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” The Arlington Reader: Context and Connections. 3rd Edition. Eds. Lynn Z Bloom and Louise Z Smith. Boston:
Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2011. 45-47. Print.
Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Being Country.” The Arlington Reader: Context and Connections. 3rd Edition. Eds. Lynn Z Bloom and Louise Z Smith. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2011. 105-107. Print.
Mason, Bobbie Ann. Clear Springs: a Memoir. New York: Random House, 1999. Print
In this essay, McFarland discusses Native American poetry and Sherman Alexie’s works. He provides an overview of Alexie’s writing in both his poems and short stories. A brief analysis of Alexie’s use of humor is also included.
Pilcer, Sonia. "2G." Visions of America Personal Narratives from the Promised Land. Ed. Wesley Brown and Amy Ling. 4th ed. New York: Peresea Books, 1993. 201-206.
O’connor, Flannery. "Good Country People" The Bedford Introduction To Literature, 5th ed. Ed, Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,1999. 393-406
Edwards, Jr., Bruce L. "O'Connor's 'Good Country People.'" Masterplots II-Short Story Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasedena, CA: Salem P, 1986. Vol. 2. 901-902.
Literature: Penguin Edition. The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 561-562. Print.
While both Zitkala Sa and Sherman Alexie were Native Americans, and take on a similar persona showcasing their native culture in their text, the two diverge in the situations that they face. Zitkala Sa’s writing takes on a more timid shade as she is incorporated into the “white” culture, whereas Alexie more boldly and willingly immerses himself into the culture of the white man. One must leave something behind in order to realize how important it actually is. Alexie grew up in the Indian culture but unlike Sa he willingly leaves. Alexie specifically showcases the changes in his life throughout the structure of his text through the idea of education.
The construction of identity in Native American literature tends to be contingent on the trope of alienation. Protagonists then must come to terms with their exile/alienated condition, and disengage from the world in order to regain a sense of their pre-colonial life. In utilizing the plight of the American Indian, authors expose the effects decolonization and how individuals must undergo a process of recovery. Under these circumstances, characters are able reclaim knowledge of a tribal self that had been distorted by years of oppression. Through Welch’s Winter in the Blood and The Heartsong of Charging Elk, and Alexie’s Flight, we can see how the protagonists suffer from the tensions of living on the margins of conflicting societies, and that they must overcome their alienations in order to reconnect with a native identity.
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
“What I can remember is this: I was three years old, a Spokane Indian boy living with his family on the Spokane Indian reservation in eastern Washington State.” (Alexie, 2017). This is a direct quote taken from the Core Reading I chose, “Superman and Me”. This article is written by a well known au-thor, Sherman Alexie. Alexie chose to write a informative essay. However, his audience varies from the kids he speaks to and the readers of his novels, short stories, as well as his poems that he writes. There could be many different purposes and reasoning for Alexie to write this article but the main one found was to share how he learned to read as well as inform the readers of his upbringing. The tone is many things
In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me,” Alexie tells the story for how he “learned to read with a Superman comic book” and how the knowledge he gains impacts his life (Alexie 110). The knowledge he gains from the comic book leads him to become an adept reader. He is an underappreciated prodigy child who because he lives on a reservation. He was provided a gateway which leads him to a successful career as an author and as a teacher of creative writing to children on reservations. Some may call his knowledge a blessing, but it is not without consequence. Alexie “fought with [his] classmates on a daily basis,” because they wanted him to “stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers” (Alexie 111). Indian children are expected to be stupid, and to grow up working minimum wage jobs. Alexie has to survive constant bullying, harassment, and ridicule from his peers throughout his childhood. Despite the fact that Alexie is blessed with knowledge, it results in his being tormented--undoubtedly a
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
Reading a book is a great entertainment, but more importantly, it gives you more knowledge to learn. In a short story entitled “Superman and me” by Sherman Alexie, he discussed how it’s like to be in a minority, or an Indian in a non-Indian world, and how reading helped him get through it. Growing up, his father influenced him into reading books. Due to this he started to teach himself how to read and gained more knowledge. Though he is smart, it was hard for him to be noticed, “Indian children were expected to be stupid,” because of this he worked hard and proved the majority what he is capable of. Alexie’s passion in reading had helped himself and his fellow man rise against all the discrimination and be accepted by
O'Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, And Drama. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Longman. 2002. (247-261)
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Robert DiYanni, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
via, Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson, 2010. 1126-233. Print.