What Is The Theme Of Flight By Sherman Alexie

722 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The history of indigenous people in america

We all know how segregated society can get and how heated people can get with this topic, but out of all the segregation of society, there is probably none more emotional than the indians and the whites. This is clearly shown when Zits, a Native American Indian protagonist of the book Flight by Sherman Alexie, talks about how he has a very strong hatred for the people who have done his ancestors wrong in the past. Throughout the first few chapters, we hear how Zit’s plans on getting revenge for his ancestors. He plans on getting justice for his ancestors with killing the white people and he expects that all of these actions and violent ways will be justified. As he travels through time, he slowly starts to learn that no matter what her does, he can’t undo the past. His mind set slowly turns from being “I can change the past by righting the wrong.” but ultimately learns that the past is in the past and that you can’t change what has happened; no matter how badly you want to.

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
In the book The New Science of Learning by Doyle and Zack, there is a quote that is super simple but has a lot of meaning behind it, It says “We all lean throughout our lives” (page 1). As simple and basic as it is it is so true, especially in Zits’ case. He has lived and never quite learned that the past is unchangeable. He has always thought that if he did something in the present day, he could change the past. Unfortunately, when he switches through bodies, he learns that the past is unchangeable, revenge will solve nothing and killing will never be justified by any means

Show More
Related

  • Interpreting Choy's and Taylor's Short Stories: Issues of Modern Racism and Prejudice

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    people of different ethnicities. Such harm is observed in the history of North America when the Europeans were establishing settlements on the North American continent. Because of European expansion on the North American continent, the first nations already established on the continent were forced to leave their homes by the Europeans, violating the rights and freedoms of the first nations and targeting them with discrimination; furthermore, in the history of the United States of America, dark skinned individuals were used as slaves for manual labour and were stripped of their rights and freedoms by the Americans because of the racist attitudes that were present in America. Although racist and prejudice attitudes have weakened over the decades, they persist in modern societies. To examine a modern perspective of prejudice and racism, Wayson Choy’s “I’m a Banana and Proud of it” and Drew Hayden Taylor’s “Pretty Like a White Boy: The Adventures of a Blue-Eye Ojibway” both address the issues of prejudice and racism; however, the authors extend each others thoughts about the issues because of their different definitions, perspectives, experiences and realities.

    Read More

  • Flight as a Literal and Metaphorical Symbol in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Song of Solomon, a novel by Toni Morrison, flight is used as a literal and metaphorical symbol of escape. Each individual character that chooses to fly in the novel is “flying” away from a hardship or a seemingly impossible situation. However, by choosing to escape, one is also deliberately choosing to abandon family and community members. The first reference to this idea is found in the novel’s epigraph: “The fathers may soar/ And the children may know their names,” which introduces the idea that while flight can be an escape, it can also be harmful to those left behind. However, while the male characters who achieve flight do so by abandoning their female partners and family, the female characters master flight without abandoning those they love. Throughout the novel, human flight is accepted as a natural occurrence, while those who doubt human flight, such as Milkman, are viewed as abnormal and are isolated from the community. It is only when Milkman begins to believe in flight as a natural occurrence that he is welcomed back into the community and sheds his feelings of isolation.

    Read More

  • Socialization In The Awakening

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    This means that the pain that was felt during those times is still here, and with that, the rawness and hurt. There are also those with very racist mind sets still alive today. The ones that were not re-socialized. They could still be teaching and passing down the concepts of racism and inequality as a norm and the correct way to live. This creates a cycle of negative socialization that will be many times harder to break down, and build back up with equality as a building block. As a positive, those that have been re-socialized are still with us as well. They have a special insight to teach the younger generations. They have the background to why equality should be a norm rooted deep

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paton is able to convey the idea of racial injustice and tension thoroughly throughout the novel as he writes about the tragedy of “Christian reconciliation” of the races in the face of almost unforgivable sin in which the whites treat the blacks unjustly and in return the blacks create chaos leaving both sides uneasy with one another. The whites push the natives down because they do no want to pay or educate them, for they fear “ a better-paid labor will also read more, think more, ask more, and will not be conten...

    Read More

  • Human Cargo Analysis

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    Connections can be drawn between the mistreatment of two racial minorities centuries ago, because they went through similar struggles then and today. This is important to remember, because then the origins of white supremacy and institutional racism can be analyzed. Plus, as the quote from George Santaya goes, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat

    Read More

  • Black Reparation: Social Justice through the visibility of the Black narrative

    1894 Words  | 4 Pages

    In American history, the people of color narrative have historically been invisible; the dominant discourse of American society has been predominantly white with Eurocentric emphasis. Thus, we see the silencing of the narrative of minority groups in American history. In his literature The Price of Reconciliation, Ronald Walters argues for a Black political agenda that includes reparations; he believes that the legacy of slavery has produced a domino effect that produces the oppression of Blacks till this day. Conservatives on the other hand disagree with Walter’s argument; they believe that reparation is unnecessary because America is now fair to Blacks. Furthermore, conservatives believe that Blacks should move on since slavery happened a long time ago. In order to understand Walter’s argument we must understand his claim that Blacks still suffer from the legacy of slavery. In addition, we must analyze his argument for Black reparation. To comprehend the impact of reparation we must assess the effects of it in the Black community; thus we must analyze how reparation can both aid and hurt the Black community. By taking these steps, we look at the arguments about reparation with a critical eye.

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory Essay

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, once said, “Hating People because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. I’s just plain wrong” (Goodreads, 2015). For many centuries, ethnic conflict between the humans have existed immortally due the never changing differences of culture and values, spinning the cycle of war. Fortunately, some have ended however some still remain immortal in the eyes of those who have experience struggle to this date. The lack of awareness of problems in a cultural crisis concerning those who fall victim to a system and society that discriminates and alienates. With assistance of Critical Race Theory, this essay will examine how the role of race with has affected has caused consequences within the lives of marginalized groups within society through the lives and their relationship with those in their communities.

    Read More

  • Flight Sherman Alexiie Sparknotes

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    agent on an Indian Reservation in the seventies. Zits is able to understand a part of modern Native American history through him. Hank is white, with blonde hair and blue eyes, which Zits attributes as a sign of beauty. Through being Hank, he understands that these do not strengthen one’s character, for Hank and his partner are murderers. After meeting Hank’s wife and kids as Hank, Zits learns to see Hank as something other than a murderer. In the book he says: “I wonder if she knows that Hank kills people. I wonder if she knows that Hank helped kill a man a few nights

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Flight Essay Topics

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zits becomes his father and understands that he does love him. He learns that his father had as bad of a life as Zits, maybe even worse. His father was a homeless Indian who lived on the streets. Zit's father's father was horrible to him, therefore he was nervous he'd be a bad father when Zits was born. He was so terrified of that thought that he walked out of Zits' life right after his birth. He does love Zits though because at all times he carries a picture of Zits with him. “I stare at the photograph. It is me, the five-year-old me. The five-year-old Zits. The real me.” Alexie,

    Read More

  • Zits's True Identity

    467 Words  | 1 Pages

    Like I stated earlier, Zits feels like he can't identify with both his Indian and Irish descent because his parents were not around to teach him about heritage. Furthermore, Zits second transformation to a mute Indian boy teaches him about the Indian half of his identity. But, Zits doesn't learn this through communication with the Native Americans because of his disability, rather he learns his identity through watching members of the camp. He learns that Indians eat a lot of meat and that most of them stink. However, on a deeper level he realizes that Indians lived happily in their camps. "Everybody else smiling and gossiping and singing and laughing and living their way-cool old-time Indian lives." (Alexie 61). Not only does this give a sense of happiness toward Zits, but it also convinces him that he may vary well be in heaven. He sort of feels at peace with everyone in the Indian camp. This furthers my point of the transformations teaching him bout his

    Read More

  • Zits's Changing Identity

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zits embodied societal norms by opening fire in the bank, on people who trusted him to respect their lives. Jimmy was similarly betrayed by Abbad. Elk and Horse commit a different, more political kind of betrayal through their treason against their own people. There is multiple examples, and all together suggest humans have a leaning to hurt each other. A series of cruelty is continued, as happens with Zits, who responds to the betrayals of foster families who abuse and neglect him by turning to violent hatred. Zits learns not only that betrayal is a natural human vice, but also that one must accept weakness in order to forgive and find

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Flight And Unflappable Boy

    227 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are differences and similarities between “Unflappable Boy” and “The Flight”. For example one is a story one is a poem but there are other things are able to be contrasted and compared between the two. First, in “Unflappable Boy” the boy was imagining that he was flying However, in “The Flight” it was “real” flying. Another thing different between the two is that in “The Flight” they had a rationale for flying: to get to Neverland and meet the mermaids. Those are some of the Things “The Flight” and “Unflappable Boy” do not have in shared common.

    Read More

  • Past experiences shape identity

    1955 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many believe that whatever situations have happened in the past should be left in the past. To others, the past holds a special place in their hearts because it has helped in shaping the person they have become today. One should always appreciate his or her ancestors and the struggles they have gone through throughout history such as slavery in order to bring us to where we are today. Though negativity can affect past experiences one should not dwell on it, but learn to move forward and look for the positive aspects of life. Without the past there wouldn’t be any great myths, any personal memories, and nothing for our future generations to learn from. Past experiences also helps people to learn from their mistakes in the past so they will know not to repeat them. One should also remember the good memories that the past has brought forth and should learn to appreciate them and the people who helped us to gain them. (Maya Angelou, author of the excerpt “Mary”, Zora Neal Hurston, author of the essay “How it feels to be colored me”, Gwendolyn Brooks, author of the poems “Sadie and Maud” along with “We Real Cool”, and Annie Proloux, author of the essay “The half Skinned Steer”, proves that through past experiences, whether negative or positive, the memories or struggles that people have encountered influences the way that people live their lives in the future and helps in shaping the individuals identity.)

    Read More

  • Pip's Education

    1547 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... way of thinking is wrong and he admits that he is wrong and reconciles himself with his friends and family.

    Read More

More about What Is The Theme Of Flight By Sherman Alexie

Open Document