Comparing Zits And Victor In The Movie Smoke Signals

“I learned how to stop crying. I learned how to hide inside myself. I learned how to be someone else. I learned how to be cold and numb.” (Flight 161). In Flight by Sherman Alexie, a young kid named Zits has a lot of similarities and differences with Victor, the main character in the movie Smoke Signals. They’re both facing similar situations, but they handle it very differently. Zits learns to hate everyone and not to let anyone bother or hurt him in any way. Victor has other people to talk to, but he still does not respect them as well. The first couple minutes he spends with his new foster family, he immediately curses the parents out. “You bet your plopping ass I’m laughing at you.” (Flight 15). Zits and Victor are both similar and different because both their fathers left them, both people have an identity crisis, and both of them fix themselves at the end of the story. But, Zits and Victor fix their problems in completely different ways.
First off, Zits and Victor are similar because they both have Indian backgrounds and their fathers left them. “Yes, I am Irish and Indian, which would be the coolest blend in the world if my parents were around to teach me how to be

Irish and Indian.” (Flight 5). Zits’ father left right when he was born, because he couldn’t stand the fact of being an abusive father. Victor’s father left him because he was enraged at Victor’s mother while he was drunk. Zits and Victor both wondered why their fathers left, but Zits never had the chance to see his father while Victor loved his father until he left him. “I never made friends. I didn’t learn much. I was not okay.” (Flight 159). So, Zits and Victor are more similar because they both suffer from father problems and both share a race.
Secondly, Zits and Victor both have an identity crisis. “I often wake up in strange rooms. It’s what I do.” (Flight 1). Zits was an orphan when he was six and was sexually and emotionally abused by his guardians. He has hated everyone in his life ever since he became unowned. Victor’s mom and dad were taking care of Victor all the way up until he was eight. Then, his parents got in a huge argument and it resulted in Victor’s dad leaving him and his mom. “You make your mom cry. Your dad left her sure, but you left her too, but what you did was worse, you stayed there.” (Smoke Signals). Ever since then, Victor has grown a grumpy attitude and became mundane. So, Zits and Victor both share the same hardships when comparing their social problems.
Even though Zits and Victor have so many similarities, they also have a great deal of differences as well.

For instance, Zits didn’t have a mom that loved him in the book present-day, but Victor still lives with his mom. “My mother loved me more than any of you will ever know.” ( Flight 3). Victor had a person who still loved him and cared for him when as he grew up, but Zits had nobody to love him by the age of six. Another example why Zits and Victor are different is the fact that Zits’ dad left him before he even met him. “He (Zit’s dad) vanished like a cruel magician about two minutes after I was born.” (Flight 5). Victor’s dad left him when he was eight, so Victor still remembers a lot about him. Victor had eight years to see and interact with his father, while Zits only had two

days.
In conclusion, Zits and Victor are both similar and different because they both have Native American culture in them and their fathers exited their lives, they both have an identity crisis, and they solve their problems using different solutions. Zits and Victor both grieve from their father’s absence. “Why did you (Zit’s dad) leave me?” (Flight 152). Zits and Victor also both face an identity emergency, and they eventually both find their identity around the end of the story. But, Zits and Victor are also different because their fathers left them at a different point of their lives. Zits had no one to care for him by the time he was six, but Victor had his mom to take care of him up until he was an adult. To finish, Zits and Victor are both similar and different because of their life story, their actions, and their solution to their problems.