In Sherman Alexies Indian Education short story Sherman describes his years in school and his

experiences throughout each grade level. An important theme that develops throughout the short story is
when people criticise one their peers it often leads to negative outcomes through words and actions. In the
beginning of the text, the character Sherman Alexie experiences criticism from peers at school. At school
his boy peers chase him around the playground till they were able to push him down, bury him into the
snow and make him feel as if he couldnt breathe. The character Sherman Alexie expresses, the other
Indian boys chased me from one corner of the playground to the other. They pushed me down, buried me
in the snow until I couldnt breathe, thought Id never breathe again, which reveals his thought of what
was happening to him while physically being breathless. The description of Sherman getting bullied
suggests that his peers believe they are superior over Sherman which leads to negative outcomes such as
them being tormentive towards him. Based on the character, the reader can understand how Sherman feels
when he is being bullied and tormented by peers who are only creating hard times for him because of a
belief in superiority and control over his character. Another way readers begin to understand is their own
experiences with people who believe they are superior to him/her whether its classmates, their boss, the
president, or family members. Through his suppressive tone, the feeling of being weaker than his peers or
being put down by them is conveyed. Another important event in the beginning of the text that develops
the theme is when his peers call him nicknames.Sherman explains, I was always falling down; my Indian
name was Junior Falls Down. Sometimes it was Bloody Nose or Steal-His-Lunch. Once it was Cries-
Like-a-White-Boy, even though none of us had seen a white boy cry, revealing he is called nicknames
because of his stature and/or because of the tormentive ways his peers acted on. The theme is made more
specific at this point because when Sherman is called names because of his stature it leads to a negative
outcome because they believe since they are superior to him they can take advantage of him. Based on the
character, the reader can understand why Sherman is being named negative words that his peers made up
that reflect their bad actions to hurt Sherman. Another way readers can understand is their own thoughts
and experiences with verbal abuse by others. The authors choice of words gives the character Sherman
the tone of being accustomed. In the beginning of the story Shermans experiences with criticism from his
peers, conveys the theme that when people criticise one another is often leads to negative outcomes
through words and actions. While Shermans experiences with criticism from his peers introduces the
theme, his experiences with verbal abuse helps define the theme more clearly. His missionary teacher,
Betty Towle made him tell her sorry and when he questioned why she answered with one word,
everything. Betty Towle comments, Tell me youre sorry, sorry for what?, everything, revealing Betty
had no real reason for telling him to be sorry indicating that she said this because she disliked him based
on his character. The comment made by Betty in which he tells him he has to apologize because of her
perspective of things and her beliefs leads to negative outcomes because she criticizes him on his
character. Based on the character, the reader can understand why she expected Sherman to apologize.
Betty repeatedly called Sherman an Indian and Sherman answered with agreement. Betty proclaimed,
Indians, indians, indians, yes I am, I am Indian, Indian, Jam, this conveys that Betty called him an
Indian without capitalization which reveals she disrespected Sherman and his ethnicity. The theme is
made more specific at this point because she acts on verbal abuse toward Sherman which leads to a
negative outcome that she disrespectfully calls him Indian, offending his ethnicity. Based on the
character, the reader can understand why Betty called him Indian in this manner. In the middle of the
story Shermans experiences with verbal abuse from Betty Towle, conveys the theme that when people
criticise one another is often leads to negative outcomes through words and actions. Through these
examples and experiences in the story Indian Education, by Sherman Alexie it introduces the theme that
when people criticise one another is often leads to negative outcomes through words and actions.