Throughout the novel Flight by Sherman Alexie, the main character is trying to find where he truly belongs and why he has been so mistreated in life. During the book, Zits experiences character jumps, where he is trapped inside the body of different characters in different time periods. Every time he jumps into another character, they contribute to his growth of maturity that expands his perspectives. The most significant character jumps were when he went into the bodies of the Indian boy, Jimmy, and his father. These character transformations force Zits to develop a new sense of revenge, mistrust, and forgiveness which lead to his new identity.
One of Zits’ character jumps involved him waking up as a mute Indian boy in a camp during the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Once the war was won, Zits’ father wanted revenge so he took Zits to slash the throat of a young white soldier but Zits hesitates and reflects on an incident from his childhood. The memory makes Zits understand the desire for revenge he should feel but does not have the power to do such thing, making him develop a new sense of revenge. After this transformation, Zits takes over the body of a pilot named Jimmy who is married to Linda but cheats on her with a woman named Helga. Leading him to wonder
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That’s not my real name, of course. My real name isn’t important” (1). He expresses that his self-worth is nothing and that nobody cares for who he is, so he should not have to care for who others are. Zits started out as a bitter, cynical kid who experienced many hardships in his life but realized through character transformations that there is good in life, making him realize his actions and to better himself. This transformation is important because personal growth has a profounding effect on every single aspect of our life. It provides us with both the incentive and the means to become the best version of ourselves as we
In Sherman Alexie's short story, "Flight Patterns", the story's setting is in Seattle, Washington a year after the 9/11 attacks. The main character is William, is a middle class paranoid workaholic Spokane Indian. His sales job consist of him flying on planes for the majority of his life. He has a wife and daughter who loves him unbearably. The next supporting character in the short story is a taxi driver named Fekadu who is from Ethiopia. Alexie has used this short story to portray the bigger picture about how after 9/11, many people have started racially profiling and labeling others and/or themselves out of force of habit. He does this through the use of
The Power of an Author Authors have the ability justify the worst actions. Authors have a way of romanticizing certain situations in order to convey a specific message. A good author has power to influence the reader into believing whatever it is the author wants. When it comes to the story of Hannah Dustan, authors such as John Greenleaf Whittier have romanticized her captivity story along with the actions she took throughout her journey. Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature.
The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over
Tattoos are the focal point of the story and prominent on many occasions. Without purpose in life, people often make bad decisions which impact the rest of their lives and those they interact with. How often do we pretend to be something or somebody we are not, and have to live with the unpleasant results? Throughout the story, Parker is trying to escape reality and as a result becomes entrapped with no hope of escape. He is ashamed of his name and goes by his initials O.E. to prevent people from knowing his real name, Obadiah Elihue.
In the beginning of the book, we as the readers learn about Zit’s and his past. He has been through a lot and everything that has happened has lead to Zits having very violent thoughts. With all of his aggression built up inside him, Zits often talks a lot about his violent thoughts of
Richard Wright’s “Big Boy Leaves Home” addresses several issues through its main character and eventual (though reluctant) hero Big Boy. Through allusions to survival and primal instincts, Wright confronts everything from escaping racism and the transportation (both literal and figurative) Big Boy needs to do so, as well as the multiple sacrifices of Bobo. Big Boy’s escape symbolizes both his departure from his home life and his childhood. Big Boy, unlike his friends, does not have a true name. This namelessness drives his journey, and Big Boy is constantly singled out in one way or another. The moniker ‘Big Boy’ is a contradiction—is he a large boy or is he a grown man?—and drives all of Big Boy’s actions. Throughout the story he hinges between childhood and adulthood, and his actions vary depending on which side he falls on at that exact moment.
In chapter 15 from Thomas C. Fosters’ How to Read Literature Like A Professor, flight is discussed to represent multiple forms of freedom and escape, or possible failure and downfall. Throughout J. D. Salingers’ novel, The Catcher and the Rye, Holden often finds himself wondering where the ducks in the Central Park pond have flown off to due to the water freezing over. On the other hand, the ducks are symbolic of Holden are his interest in the ducks an example of Foster’s ideas that flight represents a desire to be free.
In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the author follows the development of protagonist Amir through a life filled with sorrow, regret, and violence. Amir encounters numerous obstacles on his path to adulthood, facing a new test at every twist and turn. Amir embarks on the long journey known as life as a cowardly, weak young man with a twisted set of ideals, slowly but surely evolving into a man worthy of the name. Amir is one of the lucky few who can go through such a shattered life and come out the other side a better man, a man who stands up for himself and those who cannot, willing to put his life on the line for the people he loves.
One’s identity is influenced by many things. It’s something that one has a choice of what he wants to become. One has a personal choice as to what identity he possesses; for instance, he can choose what he likes, who he wishes to be friends with, and what he wears. After all, “Fashion is an expression of personal identity” (Latterell 11). Queen Latifah states, “All things start inside your soul and work outward” meaning that it is one’s choice as to what he lets work its way out (Latifah 34). People have even made personal choices that affect their identity by changing their name. Just as Firoozeh Dumas describes in The “F Word”, “Thus I started sixth grade with my new, easy name and life became infinitely simpler” (Dumas 86). People made fun of Dumas’ name, Firoozeh, and thus made her want to change her name to fit in; she changed her identity. An identity is mainly comprised of personal choice.
Sherman Alexie’s short story “Flight Patterns” is an intriguing story about many themes, including identity, stereotypes, and the illusions of society. The story is written from an American Indian’s viewpoint and provides and interesting and different perspective on identities and relations in America after the terrorist attack on Spetember 11, 2001. The main character William, a native American man who has a wife and a daughter named Marie and Grace respectively, leaves his family for a business trip. On his way to the airport, he encounters a black taxi driver, named Fekadu, who tells him his story. He is not sure whether or not he should believe it but by the end of their trip together William realizes how much he loves and cares for his
Howard Hughes appears to be the world’s most brilliant and eccentric aviator and movie director in the film The Aviator (Mann & Scorsese, 2004). He is admired, wealthy and powerful. However, throughout the course of the film, his eccentricities lead to significant impairment. Paranoia, impulsivity and fears of contamination plague his thoughts and behaviors. He becomes unable to cope with being in public and he cannot maintain personal or professional relationships. As a result, Howard is left isolated, losing his social support and success. It is evident that he has symptoms that are characteristic of both obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar I disorder. His behaviors become so impairing and distressing that they impact every sphere of
I don’t recall if Gutman said it in the movie about the Falcon being coated by lacquer to obfuscate that it’s really made of gold and jewels. I think it was implied that nothing is what they really seem to be. This is what I believe Dashiell Hammett was trying to communicate through his novel, ‘The Maltese Falcon.’ In this paper I will write about why I believe what is Hammett trying to convey through his cast of characters. These characters are unlike the image and stereotype cast upon their roles.
Backroads begins with Harley being questioned by the police for a crime that the reader knows not of. He delves into the story that has brought him up to this point, beginning from a year after his mother shot his father. The events in the course of this are breath taking.
By using figures such as Louis Armstrong, Abraham Lincoln, and Harriet Tubman, the author deals to provide a relevance to the readers. Some characters within the novel are old enough to remember slavery and their presence lets Nathaniel be influenced by their experiences. The author introduced us Jericho who was half-white; yet, his own father treated him as a slave. The history of his family and other African Americans pushes the narrator to develop a perspective of being disliked because of his race. The incorporation of slavery in his ancestor by the author revives history and its effects on the narrator. The novel deals with the 1960’s as well as connecting to the past through Sweetie’s letter to the president. We are introduced to issues such as the War on Poverty and student revolts, along with African American concerns. In addition, Forrest’s indulgence of various historical events are purposed to evoke the moods of darkness and fear. The detailed episodes of the Great Flood, Middle Passage, and the migration of African-Americans, along with the vision of a black Mary under a tree more ancient than Eden, invokes the conscious acknowledgement of the suffering of the black race from centuries ago. The author injects such episodes into Nathaniel’s stream of consciousness to suggest the continuity
In Sherry Turkle’s article “The Flight from Conversation,” she emphasizes that technology has given us the chance to be comfortable with not having any real-life connections and allowing our devices to change society’s interactions with each other. Turkle believes that our devices have allowed us to be comfortable with being alone together and neglecting real life connections. She opens her article up with “We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.” (Turkle, 2012. Page 1). Turkle is trying to say that we have given up on socializing with each face-to-face and forgot all about connections. In the article, Turkle continues to provide examples of how we let our devices take over and