Concealing Possession and Perfection “Flight Patterns,” by Sherman Alexie, tells an interesting story of a man named William, who is a Spokane Indian and lives in Washington State with his wife Marie and five-year-old daughter Grace. William struggles with living between the traditionalist American and Indian worlds by appearing confident and assured, but on the inside, he is actually weak, fearful, and has an abundance of obsessions. He loves his job and hates it at the same time, He needs to fly for his job, but flying scares him since the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11th. He seems very indecisive and unassured at times. He stays in the same hotel chain, eats at the same restaurants, and has the same exercise routine while …show more content…
Yet, he had no desire to abandon his Indian culture. I wonder if William feels a sense of regret for the way that he thinks towards his family at the end of the story. “Flight Patterns” shows a repetitive feel for the patterns that William goes through each time he takes flight. For someone who enjoys excitement and a sense of interest, has a monotonous pattern each time he travels for business. He wanted all of it and he got it all: the good and the bad. Alexie’s story twists through numerous feelings as he explains his desires, sexism, sympathy when William feels that he is being victimized for his race, and confusion in the reader as I attempt to figure out if he is truly sincere or not. No matter how hard he tries to wear a mask to cover and conceal his thoughts and feelings, Williams’s insecurities are apparent and show throughout Alexie’s
“Flight Pattern” is a story about to people who are darker skinned. The main character is an American Indian named William from the Spokane tribe. The main plot behind this story comes from the conv...
When Amelia meets A.J, she tries to induce him into reading some of the books on the winter list, one being The Year Bombay Became Mumbai, depicting an Indian boy as the main character. However, A.J. is unpleased. “If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you’re only telling me about it because I’m partially Indian and you think this will be my special interest. Am I right?” (Zevin 15)
This action packed book keeps readers on the edge of their seat waiting to see what Alex Rider will do next. The book make the reader feel that they are Alex himself by
In order to compel his audience, Alexis required “Smoke Signals” to abound in implicit symbols suggesting the cultural dilemma between past and present, Native Americans have been enduring since their oppression. This film acquired an ample recognition among Indian population, as well as non-Indians. But Alexie’s work goes beyond his essays and stories. He visits Indian children schools as often as he can. He profoundly believes it is through education Indian children will feel empowered to leave their reservation for a brighter future and abandon this endless circle of poverty and suffering. There seems to be a solution to combine the best of both worlds, being successful, yet remaining faithful to his roots and origins: Alexie symbolizes the living archetype of this
In the novel, “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior is exposed to a number of traumatic events due to his problematic life. So far in the novel, Junior is seen as very frustrated by the continual cycle of poverty and his disabilities, yet he finds a way to contain his sorrow through the things he loves. However, complications still manage to find a way into his life on the reservation.
In the novel Flight by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Zits, shifts through time to lead to the ultimate "rebirth" at the end of the novel by showing Zits he has an identity of his own, one that is tied to his family and his culture's histories. After shooting up a bank, Zits body-hopped into different people in different points of history including a FBI agent named Hank, a little Indian child, Gus, a pilot named Jimmy, and Zit's father. These people show Zits different sides to identity, justice, and family. Zits learns that every family has their own problems and that no family is perfect. As he body hops, he learns about a variety of different family secrets and issues.
In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, one cause of Junior’s struggle between being an individual and a member of the community is when Junior moves to Rearden which causes him to gain more confidence and the opportunity to a better life. Entering the world with a closed mind is by far the scariest thing an individual can do.
Although the theme of flight is seen throughout the book, for some characters it is even more. For many of the characters, including Kirsten and Tyler, flights are vital to explain character development. Tyler, who is the son of Arthur Leander, is interesting, because unlike most of the other flights of the book, his is away from normal “civilized” society and into disorder. In the book, he decides that the life that is agreed upon by almost all, where humanity must rebuild from the disaster that had occurred, was the wrong path- and that the correct one was an ideology where God had chosen the best to survive. Putting aside the many issues with his plans and beliefs, this is a great example of how an antagonist in a story rather than a protagonist
Flight by Sherman Alexie follows a narration of a 15-year old Native American boy that named Zits. Zits is an orphan living in abusive foster homes because he lost his parents, and after persuasion by a troubled teen, Zits travels back to witness the important moments in the Native American History. Zits is in the midst of the struggle as he struggles to balance between the cultural past of the American community with that of the present circumstances. Zits transformation and reflections of the past contribute to his loneliness, emptiness, and grief. Flight follows how Zits meets Justice and becomes a self-named teenage philosopher who undergoes difficulties in defining himself as he kills a number of people in the lobby of a bank. In addition,
Internal conflict is a struggle that most people go through at least once in their lifetime. The characters in A White Heron, The Wife of His Youth, and The Yellow Wall-paper have faced many conflicts that brings them to a choice that makes them question themselves and others around them. In A White Heron, the little girl, Sylvia comes meets conflict when her heart tells her to protect the location of the bird while her mind craves the attention and money from the hunter. Mr. Ryder in The Wife of His Youth is conflicted when his “previous” wife shows up at his doorstep after 25 years of searching. So, he is forced to either accept or deny his blackness for his “wife” while possibly jeopardizing his social status. In The Yellow Wall-paper,
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie is novel that provokes a perceptive view through a Spokane Indian boy. Arnold Spirit Jr, the main character is on the hunt to better his future despite the tease for his medical conditions and deformities. Arnold lives on a reservation filled with lost hope, it is common to see a drunk, addicts, and abusers. But these are Arnold's least worries when he makes the life-changing decision to leave school on the reservation to attend Rearden. The backlash Arnold receives from his tribe of the reservation is unimaginable. Junior's identity develops through his experiences, interactions, and interests.
The author, Sherman Alexie, is extremely effective through his use of ethos and ethical appeals. By sharing his own story of a sad, poor, indian boy, simply turning into something great. He establishes his authority and character to the audiences someone the reader can trust. “A little indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly…If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living in the reservations, he might have been called a prodigy.” Alexie mentions these two different ideas to show that he did have struggles and also to give the audience a chance to connect with his struggles and hopefully follow the same journey in becoming something great. By displaying his complications and struggles in life with stereotypical facts, Alexie is effective as the speaker because he has lived the live of the intended primary audience he is trying to encourage which would be young Indian
In Sherman Alexie’s narrative, “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian,” the struggles of race Arnold, the main character, endured lead him to have a sense of clarity on his position in this world, being a Native American. Arnold Junior experiences many a loss and torment of his peers. He also goes through may hardships because of the color of his skin. Hardship clarify someone’s position in this world, leading one to become wiser in their choices and actions. The theme is developed throughout the narrative by Arnold experiencing struggles of racism and poverty which is explained by what he learned and felt.
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
Activity #1 FLIGHT A kid named Zits who lives in Seattle, is only fifteen years old. He’s tall, skinny, ugly, and sometimes mean. He also has forty-seven zits and that’s where he gets his name from. Zits is Irish, Indian and is a foster child.