Sherman Alexie's Flight

Throughout the book “Flight” by Sherman Alexie the main character Zits is in search of where he belongs and why people have mistreated him throughout his life. In the midst of the action in the novel, Zits begins to experience character jumps, where he is trapped in the body of different characters. Each character jump that Zits has contributes to his growth into becoming more mature by allowing him to expand his perspectives and reflect on his own ideology. The most significant jumps are into the bodies of the little Indian boy, Jimmy the pilot, and his father. These jumps force Zits to develop his present ideas about revenge, violence, and forgiveness.

Flight, written by Sherman Alexie, is about a 15 year-old orphan named Zits. Because of his past, Zits has become full of pain, and he has an tendency to respond with violence. Zits has a history of being a delinquent. When arrested, Zits is put in a jail cell with a 17 year old boy named Justice who, later on in the story, convinces Zits to fire in a bank overflowing with people of all ages, colors, and size. After being shot in the head, Zits is then transported back in time to several periods of American violence where he embodies a person in each of these scenes, each of which cause him to look back on his past and face head on, all of his problems with himself concerning his feelings of apprehension, shame, identity, and loneliness.

Flight is a novel about a teenage Native American boy, named Zits because of his face, gets moved around from foster home to foster home, “crashing” through each one, and has closed his mind to the idea that some foster parents are trying to help him. Then, later in the book, after he shoots thirty or so people in a bank, is transported through time and different bodies, and learns how to turn his life around with the knowledge he acquires from what he sees and does in these different bodies. In one especially striking scene, Zits has traveled into the body of a young Indian boy at war. He wakes up in the middle of a large Indian camp. He then realizes that

The poem “Evolution” by Sherman Alexie describes the struggles between White and Native Americans. For many years White Americans always had seniority over many different cultures. This poem definitely enhances the trickery that is still going on till this day between both cultures. There are three central images that I have chosen that emphasize Sherman Alexie argument about the Native American degradation.   The first image is Buffalo Bill.

“Flying,” by Alice Miller is a complex story about a woman named Allie, who reminisces about a time spent when her cousin Mack taught her to fly when she was just a young girl. On different occasions when Mack visited, he would show her how to do new things. As Allie grew up she found herself thinking of the secret that Mack shared with her and how he told her not to tell anyone or she may get hurt. Allie longed for the feeling of flying, if she could just reach out and talk to Mack but too much time had passed. She dreams of flying in her sleep, not for long periods of time, but just enough to embrace that feeling she had years ago. She wonders if many people have experienced flying the way that she has and if she could fly by herself without Mack. One day, Allie tries to fly on her own and succeeds, soaring higher than she did with Mack. Before Allie knew it, she was flying through the clouds and around town. Now that Allie has experienced the feeling of flying again, more than ever she wanted to share with her kids. One night after the children were asleep she wanted to share her secret with her boys but instead chose her daughter. Miller suggests that when a person is afraid of doing something on their own, sometimes it just takes a little bit of courage to step out and let go of the things that could be holding a person back.

“Flying,” by Alice Miller tells the story of woman reminiscing on the time that her cousin taught her how to fly when they were kids. It begins with the main character, Allie, flying in the air with her cousin, Mack, when she was six years old. Allie has many questions and Mack tells her that all boys can fly and instructs her to not tell anyone that she knows this secret. He also tells her not to ever try to fly without him and compares this secret to the myth about Prometheus giving the God’s fire to man and being punished for it. As the years went by, Allie wonders if she would ever fly again and even doubts if the memory was real. She becomes a wife and a mother to two sons and a daughter but still wonders if flying is possible. One night, she decides to test her memory and tries to fly out of her backyard. She slowly ascends just as she did when she was young but even higher. Over the next few days, her urge to fly again grows. One night, she sneaks into her children’s room and picks up her daughter to take her outside and show her how to fly. The story ends with Allie telling her daughter to promise not to tell the boys what she is about to experience and excitement building in Allie for her daughter. The central idea of this story is the pursuit of satisfaction never ends.

Zits’ weak point, Justice asked Zits if he wanted to seek for revenge, Zits blindly answered yes

Betrayal hits the most not when by a friend, but by a loved one. In the novel, Flight, by Sherman Alexie, a half Native-American half Irish teen calling himself Zits, struggles with moving from abusive foster home to the next while in the constant search for a real family, real parents. In the act of crime, Zits is shot which transports him into a cycle of different bodies portraying different themes that majorly affects zits life and understanding of the world. The scene in which Zits meets a boy named Justice develops the theme of betrayal by portraying Justice, who seems like a very wise, trustworthy friend, but ends up betraying Zits which changes his view of the world forever.

Sherman Alexie’s Flight Patterns tries to tackle a challenging subject. It probes the underbelly of modern life, sifting through the cloudy American mind that’s full of seemingly useless information, in search of what’s truly important in life. This happens through the stories two main scenes. The first depicts William’s relationship with his daughter and wife, and conflicts in life. The second engages William in a taxi-cab conversation that shuffles his priorities and forces him to confront his problem. This pushes him to his tipping point, and when the ride is over, he becomes uneasy and cares only to hear his family’s voice, not about his job, or the fears that had previously been driving forces. Alexie is trying to show that

“Flying” by Alice Miller is a short story about a woman, Allie who learned to by her cousin Mack when she was six years old. Mack tells Allie to never tell anyone that Allie can fly and that all boys are able to fly. Allie in the story then grows up without ever flying again until she is a mother of three. Allie thinks about flying all the time but something keeps her from not flying. Until one night Allie cannot help but try and goes on top of her roof and flies away. Then a couple of days later when Allie is not satisfied and wants to take flight again. While tucking in her children, Allie decides to take her daughter outside to teach her to fly. The central idea of the story is that one should do what makes them feel happiest.

The story “Flight Patterns” is a short story in which Sherman Alexie, the author, presents Native American literature which is new around this time in age. William Cline, the main character represents your stereotype native American. This story takes place post 9/11; therefore, the level of security has been increased greatly along with the amount of hostility towards darker skinned people. William describes how he feels out of place because he has all the traits of a native American but he feels likes he needs to try in order to keep up with his culture. He points out that his wife, Marie, is the one that lives up to the title and has no cares in the world. Her culture comes natural to her and she is not self-conscious about her appearance unlike her husband. Their daughter Grace, has a little bit of both parents. She has the carelessness of her mother and yet she strives to be like her dad as well. William’s family lives in Seattle and they are one of the first native American families to settle there; therefore, racism is a very touchy subject.

There once was a boy named Zits. He was half Native American, half Irish and completely parentless. He lived in many different foster homes until he eventually met a troubled youth named Justice, who filled Zits with ideas of violence until Zits opened fire on a bank. Subsequently, Zits was shot in the head and switched bodies throughout time and space. His journey continued as he was transferred through time and different individuals, all who related to his personality and had to make choices about violence. His story is one of self-discovery as he travels until he can return to himself and reverse his horrible actions in the bank. This story is the novel Flight by Sherman Alexie. In this novel, Alexie explores many complex themes, such as the effect of a father figure on one’s personality and how compassion can help heal a person’s soul. Throughout the novel, it is evident that Zits is strongly influenced by his parental figures or lack of them. In the beginning, he chooses to let his violent role models have total control over his version of right and wrong. After his journey of learning, he realizes that he has command over his thoughts and can choose what he believes. At the end, he also has positive role models, ones that won’t force him to be violent and care for him. Because of his change in role models and ideas, he becomes a more compassionate and empathetic person.

Flight, written by Sherman Alexie was published on March 28, 2007. Flight is about a 15 year old orphan named Zits. Because of his past, Zits has a tendency to respond to situations violently. When arrested by officer Dave, a nice police officer, Zits is put in a jail cell with a boy named Justice who, later in the story, convinces Zits to fire in a bank overflowing with all sorts of people. After being shot in the head, Zits is transported back in time to several different periods of American history.

However, it just so happens that Dr. Zola had impeccable timing. Captain America had just lost someone

I have to find out what the connection was between my mom and Zola. - Your mom is not here to answer that. - Neither is Zola.