Superman and Me

In Sherman Alexie's "Superman and Me" his use of emotive language and metaphors helped establish the central idea that the stereotypes made of or against you should not define you, as seen in the sentence directly relating to the theme: "I read with equal parts joy and desperation".

When Alexie explained the lifestyle him and his family lived on the reservation he wrote, "...We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food" . The use of emotive language here is straightforward, and simply breaks down the reality of the life he faced every day-which causes the reader to be able to see exactly why change was so desperately needed for him. It shows the repetitivity, and therefore, dullness of his life and how something like that would motivate anyone to get out of such a lifestyle, and that's why reading and educating himself, to him, was joyful- because it was a change in his life. Yet, it was also done out of desperation- because he needed, and was desperate for that change in his life because he was incredibly against the idea of living in the stereotypes made of him and his people.

Alexie later continues on to how he used to read with every available minute and book he had, he goes on to say, "I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life". This use of metaphor brings about an intense effect to the audience as they realise the importance and desperation Alexie was feeling at the time. Through this, he is comparing the need for him to change his life so that he will live in a way against the stereotypes made against his race, with loving those books to "saving his life". And the difference was negligible. The need and desperation he felt to change his life to him, was the same feeling one would feel when they needed to save their life.

Overall, Alexie repeatedly shows how his love and joy for books wasn't the only significant aspect or quality of his life- it was also the desperate need he felt to change the cycle of the Native American life routine that he was expected to live with.