When the quote, “I read with equal parts joy and desperation,” is stated in the document, Sherman Alexie had begun reading. He was reading very frequently. He was reading everything he got his hands on. In the article, it states, “I read junk mail. I read auto-repair manuals. I read magazines. I read anything that had words and paragraphs.” Even though Alexie was reading all these things for entertainment, ke knew that there was something deeper in his reading, which was he was “trying to save his life.” The previously mentioned quote, “I read with equal parts joy and desperation,” has an overall impact to an important part of the story, Alexie’s experience in learning how to read. Once he begins to read, Alexie understands how much more advanced …show more content…
“I ran to the bookstores and read bits and pieces of as many books as I could,” stated the document. This quote explains the joyful part of the ability to read in which Alexie had. “I loved these books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life,” also stated Alexie. In addition to understanding his hardships, Alexie also understood, once he started reading, that he was trying to save his life. This can take part of the desperation part in the quote that has been frequently mentioned. Understanding your Indian setbacks and also understanding that reading is going to save your life play hand in hand. For example, since he knew that if he didn’t persevere in learning to read and continuing to do so, his setbacks could prevent his life from going anywhere, therefore he had to continue reading so he could “save his life.” Now, he may have eventually learned to read later on in his years, but it very well may have been too late for him, which is why he needed to get an early start on the learning