Alexie's Childhood In Superman And Me

The story “Superman and Me” has author Alexie tells his readers a theme that he learned when he was young: to be himself no matter what others tell him to do. The story is about Alexie and his love for reading and what caused it. Alexie wrote the story on his childhood in the Spokane Indian Reservation. Alexie is the main character seeing as this is a narrative about his childhood. He has a conflict when others try to tell him not to be himself. Throughout the writing he suggests that he is smart because of his love for reading. He loved his father very much, and since his father loved reading, Alexie took up reading as a hobby as well. Alexie writes, “I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for

This reveals the theme of the text because he stays true to himself even when his peers wanted him to be quiet. The theme is also revealed through how Alexie describes himself, he speaks about himself as someone who is arrogant and lucky but he also says he won’t stop. Towards the end of the text, Alexie described how he advanced quickly and how if he wasn’t an Indian he would be seen as somewhat of a prodigy instead he is seen as an “oddity”. Alexie says, “We were expected to be stupid. Most lived up to those expectations.” this shows how Alexie was different from the others, and how he stayed true to himself. He also shows how he wants others to do the same when he says ”They are trying to save their lives.” he says this in admiration because he sees himself in them, he sees their enthusiasm as his own. This isn’t always a good thing though because of how he stands out he is also seen as an outcast, not only because of his intellect but because of what he does with it, he doesn’t want things to stay the same like most, he wants to change. This shows the theme again, it shows the reader that he didn’t change for