“I refused to fail. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky.” Sherman Alexie uses this phrase in paragraph 7 of “Superman and Me.” All throughout the book, he said that he was different than all of the other Indian children. He really did refuse to fail and be like the other Indian kids. Being smart, arrogant, and lucky were all reasons why he refused to fail and be different. Sherman Alexie was a lot more intelligent than most of the Indian children. He learned how to read at a very young age. He learned what a paragraph was, then he was able to learn how to read through a comic book, and then he even learned how to actually read real books. In paragraph 5, it states, “He reads ‘Grapes of Wrath’ in kindergarten when other children are struggling through ‘Dick and Jane.’” So he was reading more and was understanding more than all of the other Indian children. Alexie was also arrogant. Throughout his life, he would not follow the other Indian children and do what they did. He always wanted to be outstanding and different from the others. He wrote in paragraph 7, “I read books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open.” That is saying that he would always read even when he was very tired and could hardly keep his eyes open. He also wanted to learn more and not be scared of non-Indians. He refused to be like …show more content…
In paragraph 2 it says, “My father, who is one of the few Indians who went to Catholic school on purpose was an avid reader of westerns, spy thrillers, murder mysteries, gangster epics, basketball player biographies and anything else he could find.” Later on in that paragraph, Alexie says that since his father loved books, he decided to love books as well. So he was very lucky to have the father he had. If he hadn’t of had that father, then he wouldn’t have been as smart or arrogant, and would’ve been just as the other Indian children and would fail in life, which he refused to