How does a person's culture or the stereotypes they face during their life impact their future dreams or desires? Through the writings of Sherman Alexie and Bobbie Ann Mason, we observe the influences that their culture imprinted on them. Author, poet and screenwriter Alexie writes in his 1997 essay "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" about life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and describes how he used his love of books not only to escape the prejudices of his own people. race but to succeed in the non-Indian world (47). In his 1999 excerpt "Being Country" from his book Clear Springs: A Memoir, author and essayist Mason explores life on his family's farm in rural Kentucky. She speaks of a way of life that revolved around the food they grew, but also depended on the whims of nature for their existence. She also explains how this lifestyle made her dream of a different life. (106-107). Even though Alexie and Mason come from diverse cultures, they both grew up in stereotypical societies and were exposed to similar outside influences that shaped their personal identities throughout their young lives. As a result, they both envisioned a future that aspired to be different from the customs and beliefs of their daily lives. As the backgrounds of these two authors are examined, their economic differences become clear while their similarities become apparent through the stereotypes of their lives. crops. Alexie describes a childhood where poverty was a way of life. He says: "We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents was usually able to find a minimum wage job or another, which made us middle class by reservation standards...We lived 'a combination of irregular paychecks, h. ..... middle of paper ...... and became the award-winning author she is today. Thus, these two writers overcame the restrictions of their society and achieved the successes they had only dreamed of in the face of constraints that attempted to hinder their potential and limit their freedom. In Alexie and Mason's minds, failure and conformity were not options. They were driven by their knowledge and self-determination to succeed in the worlds of their choosing. Works CitedAlexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” The Arlington Drive: Context and Connections. 3rd edition. Ed. Lynn Z Bloom and Louise Z Smith. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 45-47. Print.Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Being country”. The Arlington Drive: Context and Connections. 3rd edition. Ed. Lynn Z Bloom and Louise Z Smith. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 105-107. Print.