In his essay “Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie details how he broke through the limitations placed on him due to his ethnicity. Alexie begins the essay by opening up to his audience and telling the story of how he taught himself to read using a Superman comic book. Alexie's family lived paycheck to paycheck, so he began reading everything he could get his hands on. The purpose of Alexie's "Superman and Me" is to inform the audience that you don't have to be rich to learn. With pathos, repetition, and elaborate metaphors, Sherman Alexie evokes a change of heart on the part of his audience. Alexie begins the essay by giving the audience some background information about himself and his family. It recounts how they lived on an Indian reservation and survived on "a combination of irregular wages, hope, fear, and surplus government food." (Page 1, para. 1) From the beginning, Alexie captures the emotions of her audience. Alexie then goes on to talk about his father and how, because of his love for his father, he developed a love of reading. “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with aching devotion, I decided to love books too.” (Page 1, paragraph 2) He talks about how he taught himself to read and through books he began to crave more knowledge. Alexie says that once he learned to read, he began to progress quickly in his studies. However, because of his thirst for knowledge, he got himself into a lot of trouble. “An intelligent Indian was a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. » (Page 2, paragraph 6) This statement is one of the most powerful statements in the entire essay. The reason is Alexie knows problems are going to arise but he wasn't going to let it... middle of paper... save our lives. (Page 3, paragraphs 7 and 8) Not only is this a reference to a metaphor, but it is itself a metaphor. When Alexie says “save my life…save our lives,” he’s not speaking literally. Rather, he speaks metaphorically because he is trying to keep himself and his fellow Indians from falling into the cliché of the stupid Indian. Alexie could have worded the statements however he wanted, but by wording them this way he helps reinforce the meaning of the title and evoke strong emotions in the hearts and minds of his readers. “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie is a rather intriguing and emotional essay about a young Indian boy's remarkable quest for knowledge. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. “Superman and I.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, April 19, 1998. Web. May 14, 2014. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/19/books/bk-42979