Like Father, Like Son

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Recommended: parent-child relationship

A father and son have a relationship that’s virtually irreplaceable. They bond on a different level than do mother and son, but both are necessary. Sometimes, the mother or father isn’t present in a child’s life, greatly affecting the child. Some may leave for personal reasons, while others leave because they feel it will benefit the child. Having one around could preserve the child to an extent, but being without both could generally wreck the child’s outlook on life all together. In Sherman Alexie’s “Flight” the main character, Zits, loses his mother and child support and what he thought his father, out of spite, abandoned him. Zits is introduced going through many foster homes and heading down the wrong path. He admits to all sorts of crime and has been in jail numerous times. Over time, Zits receives the chance to see how people see things, think, act, and live as well as being able to do these things for them and access their memories, by being put into that person wholly. He begins to realize that there’s good and bad in everyone, helping him cope with his situation. Towards the end of the book, Zits realizes the body he inhabits is none other than his fathers. He now has access to the thoughts, feelings, and memories of the very man who left him. He soon comes to terms with the reasoning and this puts Zits at ease, making him realize that people do things good or bad for reasons unapparent to others. Zits and the reader soon realize that the anger Zits withholds is that of his father, if not more, and how they’re more alike than what was led to believe. Growing up, life was hard for Zits. He was being dragged in and out of foster homes since birth. He’d act out in anger because he was left by what he thought to be his usele... ... middle of paper ... ...ut how he felt as a child and all the anger he had built up over his lifetime. Zits was acting out and getting kicked out of places because he never faced how it felt to be left by his father. He was upset; felt like he wasn’t good for anything either. Both began to spiral out of control because they wanted to forget what had occurred in the past. But Zits was given the chance to change that he is and become a better person. Zits father was just as angry, if not more, for a number of almost similar reasons. Both are angry and it leads the father and his son places they regret traveling to. Unlike his father, Zits chooses the road of redemption. Zits is allowed to mend what’s missing and move on with a better outlook. Zits is later adopted by a friend of the police officer and loves his new family. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. Flight. New York: Black Cat, 2007.

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