Arredondo 1

Jose Luis Arredondo

Instructor. McCann

English 1301 313

September 4, 2023

“The Joy of Reading and Writing” Overview

In The Joy of Reading and Writing, one part that really wasn't understandable was what Alexie
really meant by the line "He grows into a man who often speaks of his childhood in the third-
person, as if it will somehow dull the pain". It's sort of hard to understand what kind of pain
Alexie really is feeling as he seems very happy and contempt as a writer, even expressing how
"lucky" he was to have become one. Alexie seems to constantly repeat just how "lucky" he is
throughout his writing; not really in a metaphorical way, but as a way to literally show how truly
fortunate he was to be given the chance to learn so much about reading and writing at such a
young age.

He shows extreme passion for reading and writing, even expressing how it saved his life and
might even save others' as well. What Alexie truly means here is just how vital reading and
writing is to one's life. As Alexie has shown firsthand, these skills open you up to many
possibilities that you might otherwise now have known about. Given how much reading and
writing has positively affected Alexie's life, it's not really that hard to see why he believes so
strongly that it might do the same to other peoples' lives as well.