Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns

In both stories, it is obvious that the authors try to display a specific point or time era as well as a meaning behind it. Their writing has a certain place in history, rather than not being associated to any time or era. We clearly know Sherman Alexie wrote his story during the 21st century, because it takes place after 9/11, the style gives it away and you can tell what types of readers he is appealing to. In “Flight Patterns” William wakes up to a radio song “I fall to pieces” by Patsy Cline, who is an American singer during the early 50’s. He started talking about all of the famous authors/ producers

“Other people find God in ornate ritual, but William called out to..” and he lists different religions, people, artists all at once (Alexie). The author here, gives us this idea that William is not a religious person, only with his “mourning workouts”. We know both he and his wife are Native America, and we get shown that he often regrets being “white”. Another regret William has is leaving his family, his daughter crying when he leaves mustn’t make it easier. His wife seduces him to get back into bed with her, and we since that they have many of their own problems. We know this is a time period after 9/11, and William makes it clear that he is scared of “Osama Bin Laden”. He has a very casual conversation with his taxi driver, it also opens up some of his personal feelings. “William was always being confused for something else.” He was, but he also confused his dark-skinned taxi driver for being a black who listens to hip hop and judged all the muslims at the airport. With all of these elements; Williams background, the time, his faults and issues, we see what type of person he is. His flaws,

He “was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his dress, which was that of a planter. His features were good—a straight nose, firm mouth, broad forehead, from which his long, dark hair was combed straight back, falling behind his ears to the collar of his well-fitted frock coat” (Bierce). The author we can tell, is writing about the time that he lives in. His use of language is visable and his descriptions like a ‘frock coat’ or ‘if one might judge from his dress’ sound vintage. He speaks (writes) as people would back in the day, which creates a more enjoyable experience. A big part of the success of Bierce’s writing comes from the plot. Part one of the short story acted like a foreshadowing, Farquhar and his situation were briefly described (hook). The second part was back in the past, almost like a movie, he describes Farquhar, his background, fitting in with the southern theme. Part three was the most unique, because it had many illusions, and it acted almost like a mirage when you are in a dessert and you suddenly see a forest and lake. Similarly, the author had planned the plot out so that there was a big plan in Farquhar’s plan to escape. In the illusion his escape worked, it had many close deaths; gunshots, cannonballs, drowning, chaos. His neck was in pain, and suddenly lost