preview

Social Issues In Superman And Me

Decent Essays

The modern society has evolved, and it views many problems arising nowadays as not problematic anymore. However, even though the society and the people have got through some change, many issues concerning the social life of every person still remain unsolved. One of such issues in the modern life is the perception of the world through a usual prism and inability of the people to seek for other perspectives and to recognize other lifestyles. This is attributed to the fact that people tend to be inclined to use stereotypes and to build their perception of the world on them. With regard to the mentioned social issues, the essay “Superman and Me” by Alexie Sherman and the article “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner raise similar themes and express …show more content…

The authors draw the attention of the readers to the fact that people who are not afraid to be different are very often not recognized by the society. In the “Superman and Me” the readers find an idea that “If he'd been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy” (Sherman 1). However, belonging to the Indian group made the talent of the young boy unnoticed and undervalued. The similar idea is expressed in “On Dumpster Diving”. The author here mentions that the scavenging is perceived by other people as weird and dirty undesired activity, and they usually feel pity for the people who are finding the things for their life in dumpsters. However, Lars Eighner proves that this activity is useful and even may sometimes bring pleasure. He mentions that he found diaries and journals as well as books and magazines that he can read. Besides, he notes that looking for products in the dumpster requires strong knowledge and intellect to find the ones that would really be of some use. In depicting such a situation, the two authors point out the narrow-mindedness of the society. The problem that is raised here is that people are accustomed to seeing the world through the lens of personal experience and very often fail to realize the real motives and the real essence of other people. It happens especially often when this concerns the people who differ from others and can easily perceive their difference from the society while being somehow better than the others

Get Access