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Flight

In: English and Literature

Submitted By travonggaines
Words 621
Pages 3
Travon Gaines
Professor Thompson
English 1A
7 February 2015
Flight

In the novel Flight by Sherman Alexie it shows how the character Zits transforms the way he views life by taking a “flight.” This novel takes Zits on a journey back into time to give him a reality check on what could possibly be and see all the things that he does not want to be like. Flight gives the reader a clear understanding on how he struggles because he has faced many hardships through his fifteen years of life. The title to this story is actually interesting because it isn’t what I would expect after reading this story. This title takes on a role that is unique.
The meaning of flight based off of this novel is to take a trip to the past centuries and be able to experience what it was like and what Zits does not want to feel like. When Zits took the place of Hank and his partner was Art he felt bad that he was forced to shoot the teenager after Art had killed him already. When Art says, “shoot junior” (Alexie 53) and Hanks response is “He’s already dead.” (Alexie 53). Zits realized that when he was in the bank he could’ve have been a heartless person just like the two crooked cops were and he actually wanted to make a change in his life rather than keep messing up. He experienced many situations of this flight because of the thoughts he had while at the bank.
Michael went on many flights such as going back to the eighteenth and nineteenth and eventually to his father and realized he didn’t want to be like that and he wanted to actually have something positive going for his life. When Michael went to reveille and noticed that the military were on a mission to take out Indians near the Colorado River he didn’t want to take part of it. As they approached the site Gus betrayed them and saved a fellow solider that was trying to do the right think as well as safe a little boy named Bow Boy. “I am doing the right thing I am trying to save the soldier who is trying to save Bow Boy.”(Alexie 95). Michael realized at that moment that if he were to shoot up the bank it wouldn’t do him any justice just because the guy Justice wanted him to do it.
As a result of going through all these events Zits took a new outlook on life and he is trying to change his life so he isn’t like his father and so he can become a better person. When he went back to his normal self he left the bank and went to officer Dave so he could relinquish his guns. Officer Dave helped him get into a stable foster home where they actually will take care of him. Zits opened up and gave his real name, which is Michael, and he got enrolled into school. Michael also finally was able to get his acne problem taken care of due to the new foster parents that helped him.
This story helped Michael evolve into a new person and have a new outlook on life. The role of flight in my opinion was to help a person realizes how much potential you can have if you take a time to think of your actions before you actually do them off of instinct. Actions that were taken in this novel gave a positive outlook on people that read this book because it sends a message. Understanding the circumstances that you are faced with and overcoming them can affect you positively in the long run.

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