Essay 2 Workshop

Essay 2 Workshop

            In the book, “College reading & writing” I have noticed something that has reoccurred between two stories. The two stories, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” and “Shooting Dad” have a common theme of the main character struggling with being different than the surrounding characters and the significance of that theme is how they deal with those struggles. “Shooting dad” is about a girl facing the problems of being the opposite of her father. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” shows the struggles of a boy into more academic hobbies than his classmates.

            In “the Joy of reading and writing”, the main characters struggle is with other Native Americans in his reservation. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers, for volunteers, for help.” This explains the main theme of the story. The author had a very hard relationship with other kids growing up simply because he was into things that they were not: books and knowledge. He notes that Indians in reservation already expected to fail in the “non-Indian” world. He was the exception, and other Indians didn’t like that.

            When using the same theme as “the Joy of reading and writing” in “Shooting Dad”, we can see that Sarah Vowell’s struggle with being different was with her father. She has completed opposite views with her father. Her father is a conservative, while she is a democrat. Her father has a love for guns, while she hates guns. She even notes a point in her life when their house had sections for her and sections for him that were separated by her hobby of music and his hobby of guns. This struggle really got to her by the time she was older, and she wanted to find something in common with her dad so that they could interact with each other. I think the cannon he built were a great idea for her to join in on, and it really brought a closing to the theme of the story.

            The significance or purpose of these themes in the story is to show how people can deal with the struggle of being different from others. Each main character dealt with there problem in different ways. It seems like the character in “The Joy of Reading and Writings” deals with be different by showing that he was successful because of his academic hobbies. He became a famous writer by being different than the ones who would follow the traditional lifestyle in the reservations. “I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” This is a statement he says in the story, trying to show that all the studying, writing and reading saved his life. This meant that any Indian who didn’t do this in the reservation ended up with a wasted life, and strained more than he strained when he was a kid. In “Shooting Dad”, Sarah Vowell deals with the same struggle of being different another way. She decides to find some connection with her father by calling and asking to see the newest gun that he was working on. This gun happened to be a canon. Through this idea she finds out that she isn’t so different from her dad after all, and finds common traits that her and her father shares. Obsession is a big trait that they both have. While he is obsessed with guns, she is obsessed with music. After doing this she seemed to have gotten past her difference with her father, and they began to get along a lot better.

            As different as the stories seem, I think that these two stories share the same theme and significance. The struggle of being different with your father or a group of people can be dealt with through different ways. This could mean not joining the other group and instead following that different passion and becoming successful. It could also mean trying to connect with your father’s passion and find a common ground. Both stories had a good ending, and in that ending showed really what the purpose of the writing was. What I got from it was that being different can be a great thing.