Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns

“We’re all trapped by other people’s ideas” (Alexie 63). Labels that are put on people limit them to succeed because they are so worried about themselves and have no confidence to strive for their dreams and reach their limits. In the short story “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexie, the story focuses on how individuals are treated due to their skin color. Alexie uses elements such as characters, plot, and tone to communicate the idea that due to racism Americans often misjudge each other. William, the Native American businessman and Fekadu, the Ethiopian taxi driver both identify each other incorrectly due to their skin color making false assumptions. William and Fekadu can relate with one another because they both faced similar problems dealing with fear, family, and race. William hates leaving on business trips because he fears something will happen to them while he is away. Fekadu also has the same fear and pain when he had to leave his family behind when he fled Ethiopia.

As William is first being introduced in the story, the author includes that William is married and has a daughter. William would love nothing more than to spend as much time with his family as possible but his job requires that he travels often and he is said to be an “obsessive-compulsive workaholic” (Mays 55). However, during his interaction with his wife, Marie, prior to his departure, he is conflicted between going to the airport and staying in bed with his wife. As she lays in bed, she entices him to stay by make sexual gestures at him and he even begins to engage her. He ultimately decides to proceed his salutations and makes his way to his daughter’s room. Not only does William loves his family, he thinks lovely things of them. For example, he thinks that his daughter is perhaps the “most logical person on the planet” (Mays 57). If William did not have a strong sense of family, he would have simply left Marie and Grace, his daughter without saying goodbye, but he made sure that they knew he was leaving and he

Sherman Alexie is very well known for his takes on Native Americans in modern American society. His books and stories most often are inside thoughts of situations that are occurring or have already occurred. Two of his shorter stories highlight two very different situations but in a sense connect with another. “Flight Plan” and “Breaking and Entering,” although confronting Native American characters, reveal to the reader the important information about American life in general. “Flight Plan” is a story that involves an encounter between a Native American business man and an Ethiopian taxi driver. This story takes place in a taxi cab, revealing

In the short story "Flight Patterns", Sherman Alexie describes how the protagonist, William, a Spokane Indian, struggles every day to escape the all too common stereotypes society places him under. This story takes place in Washington D.C. during the year after 9/11, which most likely justifies why racial profiling and stereotyping was extremely commonplace in the story around this time. It can be seen that Americans were brought closer together by this tragedy because they were banded by a common enemy who was not in fact American or even part of their culture at all, which made many, if not all Americans judgmental and paranoid against those who they considered to be of foreign descent or a threat to their safety. It is evident that throughout "Flight Patterns", Alexie employs a variety of different scenarios to ultimately show his readers that racial profiling and stereotyping is way too common in our society although it shouldn’t be, and if people really took the time to get to know one another, they 'd see that other people have substance and a story as well, and they 're not just what they simply appear to be.

Sherman Alexi’s “Flight Patterns” contains a very controversial subject in today’s society, racism. Sherman Alexi chose to portray racism through the character of William, a Native American who has a loving family and a time consuming job in Seattle, Washington. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, most citizens of the United States scrutinized ethnicities that were not familiar. William is a victim of this scrutiny, even though a small Middle Eastern group with loathsome beliefs was responsible. Why did Sherman Alexi choose William, a Native American, to demonstrate the lifestyle of a minority post 9/11. What was the significance of this and why does the repetition of planes come up so often? Sherman

“Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexie focuses on the conversation between the main character, William, and his taxi cab driver, Fekadu, while on their way to the airport. Their conversation shows how quick society is to judge someone without even knowing a thing about them. William in “Flight Patterns” portrays how people stereotype each other based on race by the use of character, setting, and point of view.

When one is faced with an awful situation, it is very easy to only see all the negatives. In Flight by Sherman Alexie, there is a young teen who grew up in an abusive, unhealthy environment. When this character turned fifteen, he met someone called Justice. Justice mislead Zits, or Michael, to shoot up a bank. A security guard shoots him in the head, which leads to a series of body-hopping. The body-hopping makes Zits (the main character) reflect on who he is and what he’s done. By experiencing different stories/lives, Zits is able to learn that, even though there are bad things in the world, there are also good things that will go with them.

Just to recap on the story, a homeless Indian man living in a big city trying to be the hero by gaining back possession of his family heirloom. Throughout his journey in the city of Seattle Washington he comes across many Indian and city natives to help him come up with the funds the pawn shop order ask of him. Because of his homelessness and being in a big city made the challenges that much harder along with him being a drunk. I feel that if he had put the setting of his story on the reservation that he belongs to, the outcome would not have been as good of a story. The reader could not relate to the character unless they were part of the Indian tribe, but since he places the story in a populated area, a relatable scenery, I can read along with Jackson and walk right along beside him looking at the train tracks where he was awakened by the officer, I feel like I was in the bar with him with all his cousins.

Through the past few weeks, the University Of Akron has participated in a series of events known as Rethinking Race. These events gave students and staff the opportunity to further understand the struggles many people go through to receive fair treatment. During these past weeks, I have had the privilege to experience the Tunnel Of Oppression and well as a film named Race.

Excerpt: “A thick scar ran from his right ear down his neck and beneath his collar. A black man with a violent history, William thought and immediately reprimanded himself for racially profiling the driver. Excuse me, sir, but I pulled you over because your scar doesn’t belong in this neighborhood.” (Alexie 61)

Profiling people can cause a brick wall to be built between one another, a wall that cannot be easily knocked down. The bricks come down as the person doing the profiling sees beyond physical appearance. When the wall comes down a transparent window forms with a beautiful view. There is more to a person than their exterior, just like there is more to a room than walls. When profiling someone, people do not see past the brick wall; they build it higher and higher. When someone takes the time to get to know someone else, the wall comes down; at that point, people get a clear view of who people are, which could be beautiful. Profiling causes people to become engulfed by other people 's perceptions of who they are, and it becomes a conflict between racial heritage and common humanity. Through the characters, setting, and tone of “Flight Patterns,” Sherman Alexie shows that profiling can lead to the misinterpretation of who someone is.

In many privileged minds, “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence”. This quote refers to individuals being unhappy with their current circumstances, usually when the individuals are financially and socially stable. However, to less fortunate individuals, this quote explicitly defines the cruel reality that they face on a daily basis. The aforementioned individuals suffer are oppressed, or subject to prolonged cruel and unjust treatment. While the definition can be put into words, the true weight of the tragedy these people face cannot be. Oppression can exist in many forms, and can affect people from all walks of life. Most commonly, oppression exists in the form of racial inequality, economic gap, and even gender bias. By using the historical, economic, and social lenses, one can determine the causes of oppression and the devastating effects that they have on career development and personal success.

Our society have a tragic past towards discrimination however several people confronted it. Viola Desmond is a prime example of an individual who use discrimination as a tool to advance and create change. Her contempt towards discrimination started when the theater refused to grant her access on the lower section simply because she’s black. The next day, Viola filed a lawsuit against the theater however the judge declared her guilty. Additionally one of the theater’s defense is, “It is customary for black people to stay on their section”. This proves that bigotry is a part of our culture and when an individual confronts discrimination, they must be prepared to on the consequences. In the end Viola successfully abolished discrimination in Nova

In the “An Indian Story” written by Roger Jack, story focuses about native American Boy going through ups and downs in his life. He grew up in Park city which is in Washington State. Jack start the story by telling about his family and more about his Aunt Greta. Jack’s mother died when he was very little, and his dad took care of him. After some time, his father got re-married with half-breed Indian. His step-mother had a boy of their own, making jack uncomfortable to live in his own house. One-day Roger runs away from his house to his Aunt Greta’s house. After talking it over with his father and Aunt, it is decided that Jack will stay with his aunt.

This was an interesting story. I felt like I was on this high with them. The story seems to be about the conflict of the young Native Americans place in the world and their ancestry. The character that I'm drawn to the most is Thomas Builds-the-Fire. Thomas uses his money from the "Washington Water Power" to have a party that he later ditches because he feels that it is not for him but for his friends (1/4). This part seems to be a metaphor for alcoholism in the Indian community that is stereotyped and how the money given still leaves an empty fridge. Thomas is the character that loves his Spokane roots and this is notable when we gets in Junior's Camaro. They tell him, "You can only come with us if you don't tell any