The Themes Of Betrayal In Flight, By Sherman Alexie

Thesis: Betrayal leads to feeling of guilt which forces the person in search of redemption either directly or through indirect actions and gestures.

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.

Do two wrongs ever make a right? Or as Zits, the main character of the novel Flight contemplates, “Is revenge a circle inside a circle inside a circle?” (77). In Flight, written by Sherman Alexie, the main character, a troubled Native American teenager named Zits travels through time and different bodies while learning about revenge, trauma, violence, forgiveness, family, and betrayal. All of these things pertain directly to Zits, and he uses these lessons to understand his life better. A scene in the middle of the novel where Zits is in the body of a young boy at the Battle of the Little Bighorn reveals to the reader (and Zits) one of the things that had the biggest effect on Zits-revenge. Zits and the reader see in this scene how revenge

In the article” Betrayed by America” by Kristen Lewis, the bombing of Pearl Harbor affected the attitudes toward Japanese Americans. The Japanese Americans probably felt mistrusted because the Americans were making up rumors about the Japanese Americans. In the article it says, ” Rumors flew that Japanese Americans were loyal to Japan and that they were spies planning another attack on the U.S. There was no evidence that these rumors were true.” It would make sense to think that the Japanese Americans were spies because Japan was bombing the U.S. It is natural for people to think Japanese Americans look Japanese. Most of the facial features look the same. The article says,” In fact, a military report in January 1942 stated that 3 percent of

Not only does the novel use the Party’s intolerance of betrayal to its ideologies as a method to facilitate the feeling of alienation and loneliness, but also that of the individual characters’ betrayal of one another. There are several examples of this throughout the novel. Some of these examples are when Charrington betrays Winston and Julia, when Parsons is betrayed by his children, when Winston and Julia betray one another, and when Winston finally betrays himself. George Orwell used these examples to demonstrate how the party was able to sever any type of loyalties between people and even one’s self. This betrayal only perpetuates the fear of relationships causing people to welcome isolation.

The connections I anticipate my group members will make as a result of this question is to experiences that they have underestimated people by how the look, not how they truly are. They might think that someone is incapable of a task until they're proven wrong. This can also relate to the quote “Never judge a book by its cover”. It means to never make something or someone feel smaller or less important than they actually are, as in this saying it is the book. You never know how the book really is, by just looking at the cover. Additionally, connections I foresee my group will create based on the critical thinking question made is to the book “Cue for Treason” by Geoffrey Trease since all group members were in that group. In the book, underestimation was one of the several themes represented. This is to the character Burbage. Burbage thought that Kit was ten

Being unfaithful to your spouse is vile and shouldn’t be an activity that your son sees you. He’s showing his son that cheating on your spouse isn’t wrong. Raymond’s mother said that Clevie always had a girlfriend. Even after they got married Clevie still had mistresses. To me Clevie either knows that his wife has knowledge of his mistresses and just doesn't respect her enough to stop or he thinks she is completely clueless and is getting away with cheating. But she had known since the beginning of their relationship. One time Raymond’s mother found a lacy handkerchief and a tube of lipstick on the floorboard of their car. The way she would get Clevie to talk if she wanted to know the information he was keeping from her was clever. She would place his hand in warm water while he was sleeping. Doing this caused Clevie to talk in his sleep, revealing the information about his mistresses and what he was doing with them. Clevie wasn’t faithful and his wife knew, he was disrespecting her and setting a terrible example for his son

Contrast is an integral part of everyday life. Without contrast, everything becomes one-dimensional and bland. In a traumatic experience, such as during a war, the very nature of it creates and amplifies these contrasts within the human spirit. Timothy Findley’s The Wars is an excellent example of how contrast is created. Some examples of these contrasts are kindness and cruelty, courage and cowardice, but the most important contrast created by Findley in the novel is the one between loyalty and betrayal.

In the First Betrayal, Patricia Brave uses menacing diction, threatening details and terrifying imagery to create a mood of suspense.

From one person to another, everyone has been brave at least once in their life. In a tough situation, one may not realize how brave they can be. In The Downsiders by Neal Shusterman, a subterranean city is under New York, full of misfits and outsiders who don’t belong on the surface. Downsider, Talon and Topsider, Lindsay are constantly being put through tough situations, yet time and time again, they show their bravery. Although bravery may always be in us, bravery can come when one needs it most.

War is a subject that is deeply imbedded in the culture of the United States; this country was founded because of it. The Americans that fight in war are often referred to as heroes and held at a higher social standard than regular civilians. But Chris Hedges has a bleaker view of war and veterans. In his article “War Is Betrayal,” he explains how war is just another way for the elite to prey on the poor and gullible. He argues that rich and powerful do not go into combat, but instead they create an enticing narrative, of honor, experience, and status, that lures weak onto the battlefield. These same people after return from war with mental health problems. While Hedges includes some appeal to credibility in his article, he mainly employs emotional appeals to make his claim.

“The guys that our artillery blew away didn't have a reason to die. They had not died facing the enemy. They just died because somebody else was scared, maybe careless. They died because they were in Nam, where being scared made you do things you would regret later. We were killing our brothers, ourselves” (Myers 106).

' ' 'James Stephen Smith ' ' ' was a schizophrenic defense attorney and who thought women were the “the tools of his enemies” through a an old story in the Bible called the wife of Heber.

Nobody can believe that the innocent activity of kite flying could ever lead to betrayal and eventually redemption yet, in the novel The Kite Runner, Hosseini manages to mend one man’s path through betrayal and ultimately to his redemption. Throughout this novel you will see many acts of betrayal between enemies, loved ones and strangers.

In a lifetime one will face many battles and deal with guilt as said “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character give him power” (Abraham Lincoln). Guilt from deceiving others or other immoral acts will result in one constantly searching for redemption. Khalid Hosseni’s novel Kite Runner and Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s novel Secret Daughter revolve around betrayal and redemption. Firstly, the search for personal redemption will strongly influence ones character. Secondly, the bond a child forms with their parents will affect their actions. Lastly, the persistence of the past will cloud one’s ability to redeem their life. Throughout the novel the authors integrated the themes of