The “Flight” is a novel written by Sherman Alexie about an American teenager who calls himself zits. Sherman wrote this novel from the first-person perspective of Native American youth. Zits is depicted as a foster child who has spent most of his life moving from house to house and contending with negative and abusive family experiences. On the other hand, “Flight Patterns” is a novel also by Sherman Alexie and it is an intriguing story with many themes including stereotypes, identity, and illusion in society. Alexie has written this story in the first person narrative with the main protagonist being William. Therefore, the use of the first person in the two stories enables the readers to see the narrative from the point of view of the narrators. The two stories are similar in that they are exploring the concept of the fragmented identity of the main narrators in relation to the outside world.
In the novel, “Flight” Alexie recounts the life of a half-native American teenager who was orphaned and adrift in an institutional environment that has subjected him to marginalization and alienation. The boy is nicknamed Zits because of his pockmarked skin. The protagonist narrates how he lost hope and identity when he was abandoned as a half-breed urban Indian unable to identify himself either as white or Indian (Alexie 12). At fourteen years, Zits runs away from his 21st home and found himself in jail where he met with a hardcore criminal named Justice who convinced him to find his lost identity by killing his white oppressors. Therefore, Zits is inducted o the life crime unable to find himself or his identity.
On the other hand, “Flight Patterns” talks about fragmented identity in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy where racism became a common occurrence. Just like Zits in the novel “Flight”, people were discriminated against based on their skin color. Alexis shows how it became increasingly harder for a black person in America after the infamous bombing on September 11. Alexie’s story is banked on following the main character, William, who became a victim of racism and lost their identity after September 11. For example, William states that “…{we’re}…all trapped by other people’s ideas, aren’t we?” (Alexie 265). The above statement marked a pivotal moment in the story where William is admitting to having a fragmented identity and being controlled by the ideas of others. He realizes that he will continue to live in a superficial world as long as he is focused on how other people view him. Zits and William are both characters of the lost identity crises and whose actions are controlled by the thoughts of others. Therefore, Alexis presented the two characters as individuals battling lost identities in the midst of changing cultural, ethnic, and religious environments. Zits is unsure whether to identify himself as White American or Native Indian because of his mixed racial background. On the other hand, Williams was a victim of racial identity after the 9/11 events where the blacks also became the target.
The “Flight,” and “Flight Patterns” are two novels written by Sherman Alexis. In these stories, Alexis discusses the concept of fragmented identity that the main protagonist experienced in their lives. Both stories are written in the first person perspective which gives their readers a firsthand experience of the crises happening in the lives of the main characters. William is a black person struggling to shake off racial identities placed upon him by the white majority after 9/11. On the other hand, Zests is a half-breed Native American who is unsure of identifying himself as Indian or white. Hence, these two novels have the theme of identity which has helped in explaining the conflict of identity happening in people’s lives today.
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. “Flight Patterns.” The Norton Introduction to Literature: The Custom Portable Edition, edited by Kelly J. Mays, W. W. Norton, 2013, pp. 252.
Alexie, Sherman. Flight. Open Road Media, 2013.