Zits's Transformations In The Book 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.

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

His survival is heavily influenced by every choice he makes, from ignoring the exhortations to escape impending danger to choosing to stay with his father in spite of difficulties. His experience with the Holocaust directly shapes his role as a frontline fighter for recognition of Holocaust victims. In moving to Canada, I also shaped my role in society. My skills, such as playing sports; hobbies, such as reading; and characteristics, such as persistence and studious attitude have all developed due to my moving to Canada. My exposure to a life so plentiful in opportunities has also caused me to take many things for granted. Events in people’s lives shape who they become. Some of these circumstances are brought about by the decisions of others, while the majority of occurrences are caused by deliberate choices. These decisions can shape destiny in a life-or-death situation or a can be like a small, yet equally profound, choice to smile at a stranger. While some decisions are out of one’s hands, a conscious effort to have a positive outlook on life can still influence destiny. Like a rudder, daily decisions made with a positive mentality can steer people to a prosperous life. It does not do well to dwell on what may have happened, but rather on how the life one creates can be consequential in further extending the development of

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 by Sherman Alexie that tell the story of a distressed Native American teenage boy, who has sadly stretched his breaking point after years of ill-treatment at the hands of adults, named Michael but prefers to be called Zits, “Call me Zits. Everybody calls me Zits. That is not my real name, of course. My real name is not important.” (Zits, p.1). Zits was left to his own devices at the age of six when his mother died of breast cancer and his father did not stick around much after he was born and left him. “I get into arguments and fistfights with everybody. I get so angry that I go blind and deaf and mute” (Zits, p.8)Zits is a violent person and takes out his anger on anyone because he has been in and out of the foster care system, none of which felt like family, with foster parents who only cared about the government cheque. He feels left out from the rest of the society mostly because of his half-Indian heritage and his abuse. Because of this, he is easily persuaded into committing crimes.

I know that children go through terrible events that are never supposed to happen, but one of the worst is being adopted. You have to live with a different family for your whole life. I would never want to be adopted because I would feel like I am not the right person for any family. “Adopted. Big Deal; so was Superman”(Crutcher 2). This was an early quote in the book but it still connects up to now because he will always have to push on and overcome whatever he goes through. Coughlin has also had to overcome his brother dying at a young age and that will live on forever because you will never be able to forget something like that. I found this to be one of the best quotes in the book because it is telling the truth about life and really explains that you don't always get what you want. “He knew that we take what the universe gives us, and we either get the most out of it or we don’t, but in the end we all go out the same way.”(Crutcher 33). This quote has explained the you have to work for what you get and treat you always have to move on from traumatic events and cope with challenges in your lives. I personally like this quote from his dad because it is uplifting and inspiring. To overcome traumatic events you must live like you always have been and to learn from your mistake. Some people like to remember traumatic events that happen in their lives but it is better to learn from the

transform himself as a being. We see a defenite theme throughout both the movie and the

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.

“Here I was, a giant among pigmies, a man among children, a master intelligence among moles…”(Twain 40). Hank forgets his own humanity and begins to believe that his knowledge makes him more of a man, just as the nobility that he shunned believed they were better than the serfs because of the titles they held.

Transformations are constantly occurring, but most of the time it’s difficult to identify them. As society evolves transformations must occur. To Transform means to “make a thorough change in the form of appearance, or to undergo a change” (Oxford Canadian Dictionary, 902). A transformation is to undergo change; from something you were into something new. In the works: Lord of The Flies, Fifth Business, and Divergent transformations transpire in each character through the way they think of themselves, what others think of them, and what they think of others.

He begins with: “always obey your parents”, a very simple piece of advice, but then adds, “when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run because if you don’t, they will make you” (“Advice to Youth”). His addition of this statement is obvious sarcasm, that provides another piece of very different advice. This piece of advice is directed at the parents, and it satirically tells them not to force their children into obedience. Rather than having an awkward conversation about the respect expected from each party in a child-parent relationship, parents can use this piece to open the discussion. The parents and children, through this repetition of satire, can both learn ways to respect each other, therefore, creating a bond.

But it took real bravery to see the deeper deficiencies and true damages of his society. One example of this is after Reardan beats Wellpinit in basketball. “I knew that two or three of those Indians might not have eaten breakfast that morning. No food in the house. I knew that seven or eight of those Indians lived with drunken mothers and fathers. I knew that two of those Indians had a father who dealt with crack and meth. I knew two of those Indians had fathers in prison. I knew that none of them was going to college.” This irony leaves Junior very conflicted. He was happy to have won the match but upset because he saw the basketball players for who they were. Many other Indians ignored the facts that more than half of their population had problems with alcohol and almost everyone was in poverty. But Junior has the courage to see his friends and himself in reality. Another example of this is the fact that Rowdy always came to Junior’s house for thanksgiving. Most people would think it was just because they were friends, but Junior knew it was because Rowdy didn’t have a real family, just a drunk abusive father. Sometimes it can be hard to see the bad things about our community, but people with bravery know it helps them pave a better

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.

should have and how a man should lead instead of follow. All of these quotes could relate to

The consequences of the past are inescapable and the choices a person makes can influence the rest of his life. There is no way to change the past, so once important choices are made it is impossible to reverse time and change those decisions. Khaled Hosseini explores this idea of having to live with past decisions in his compelling novel The Kite Runner. To enforce the message of how inescapable the past truly is, the main character of Hosseini’s book, Amir, betrays his closest friend and struggles to cope with the haunting consequences of this betrayal. Through Amir’s complex character development and The Kite Runner’s distinctive plot structure, those who read the novel gain a deeper understanding of Amir’s decisions as a result of his past mistakes via Hosseini’s use of foreshadowing and flashbacks. By creating a unique relationship between the past and present in the novel, Hosseini urges readers to ponder the consequences of mistakes and reflect on their own past.