Literary Criticisms 

Psychoanalytic

Sherman Alexie's writings often show his characters with broken emotions and mindsets. His characters often think of in what ways they can escape and change who they are and mix dreams and memories with real life, showing the readers how past experiences can change a character. The inner side of a character will separate what it wants and what it is scared of. This matches the psychoanalytic ideas of repression in which the fear a person experiences reflects on how the character's inner emotion changes the character’s behavior. Alexie shows the readers how his characters struggle from the effects of psychoanalysis and if they can overcome it or not.

Alexie also shows how outside pressures affect a character. Examples of this would be racism, poverty, and roles that characters try to fit into but don't fit the type of person they actually are. Cultural pressure plays a big role in how Alexie’s characters become shaped. Psychoanalysis tells people what they should be based on the people they are around with. An example in Alexie's writings is the character acting like a different person while hiding the person they actually are. His writings show the struggle his characters have with the yearning for belonging and the fear of not being liked.

Post-colonialism

Sherman Alexie’s writings show in some ways how people don't feel included and more of an outsider on their own land. Post-colonialism references “othering” in which someone is treated more as strange rather than normal because of their culture. Alexie's characters have to deal with not being accepted into society because they are considered different to others even though they live in the same area. When a character feels this way where they can't be accepted into both modern society and native culture it is called “hybridity” which confuses the person on who they are. Alexie shows how people struggle with their identity because of history and wanting to be accepted into society that doesn't accept them.

Alexie’s writings also show how culture changes over time. Post-colonialism references words like integration, adapt, and migration to show in what ways people try to fit into society. His writings show how Native people need to change their traditions in order to just be accepted by others. So, in return for being accepted into society and a new culture, Alexie’s characters need to throw away their past showing how pressure from post-colonialism requires people to change who they are in order to fit in even if they don't want to.

Gender

Alexie writes show the difference in gender roles by showing how they are shaped by society and culture. His character's struggles stem from a patriarchal system. Examples of this in the characters would be how a man is expected to be strong and act tough while a woman is expected to stay quiet. Alexie uses his writings to show how gender changes the way a person acts (Ex. acting strong or hiding feelings) just to try and fit in with others. His writings reveal how this type of acting can hurt people through pressure that can make a person feel lost in their own actions. Showing how people are taught to act based on their gender.

Sherman Alexie’s writings also show how gender and sexuality are built by society rather than biology. Gender criticism talks about how in what ways men and women are different (essentialism) and that gender is not considered something that is biologically given to a person naturally but rather built through culture (constructionism). Alexie shows this through his characters being told how they should act reflecting back on how people struggle with identity. Alexie’s stories support the idea that gender is changeable rather than static at birth.

Culturalism

Sherman Alexie commonly uses Native Americans to show differences in cultures between people. While cultural criticism uses and compares high culture and popular culture. Alexie combines both by explaining how Natives are looked down upon by other cultures. His writing fights to prove that Native people's stories and opinions matter as well even if they may not fit in society. And he writes how wrong it is for society to see the Native people as lesser than others. Alexie also uses ideology and hegemony to decide what counts as culture in his mind. In the end Sherman's goal is to show everyone that Native people’s traditions and cultures are just as important as others in society.

Cultural criticism also shows how people are shaped by the society around them. This fits Alexie's writings because he shows the readers how Native people are taught by society on how they are looked down upon. Alexie uses oppositional viewpoints in his stories to try and fight against the belittling of Native people. And his writing does cultural work by allowing Native voices to be spoken in his writings. Alexie's writing shows how culture changes people's thoughts and feelings and as well explains how people change and resist those cultural pressures.