His people were expected to be uneducated. Sherman Alexie refused to fail. In his essay "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" he wrote that, "I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids" (pg.18 para.8). Alexie believes that having an education gives you the opportunity to help others.Their literacy skills helped them in different ways for a common purpose.
Being educated gets you a decent job and taken seriously. Amy Tan, a Chinese-American film writer and Sherman Alexie experienced the neglect that those who are not educated receive. There are jobs out there that give employment to those that aren't literate but there aren't many jobs out there that do that and the pay isn't that wonderful. "We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another, which made us middle-class by reservation standards" (Alexie, 15). Basically, Sherman Alexie is saying that to make it in this country and world you have to have an education or you'll just be getting by. I'd always be upset with my mother for making me go to school when it was snowing and the weather was terrible. Also me not wanting to show her my grades because she expected nothing but A's. As I got older I realized that the reason my mother is like that is because she wants the best for me she knows that in this country education will get you far. She doesn't want me working at some minimum-wage job just to make ends meet like her and my father have to. People won't take you seriously either if you are not literate. "The fact that people in department stores, at banks and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her" (Tan, 419). Some people will take advantage of the fact that some people aren't highly literate. Basically, Amy Tan is saying that those who aren't literate are looked down upon and mistreated.
