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Theme Of Forgiveness In Sherman Alexie's Flight

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Forgiveness “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Why is it strenuous to forgive? Humans are thought to be “hard-wired” meaning that when someone detris our pride, vivitates our self-esteem, or desecrates our dreams, we lose something valuable to us. We want to compensate for the damages. We either want revenge or hold a frozen grudge. When someone does us wrong, we relive the situation over and over again. They may have only hurt us one time but we think about it consistently and the …show more content…

Zits underwent a troubling lifestyle full of betrayal, shame, and hate. These degradations made him struggle with identity and forgiveness. The novel Flight by Sherman Alexie illustrates forgiveness throughout. Zits is very aggressive and is typically in trouble with either his foster parents, the school he is attending, or the police. Zits acts out for the attention he craves but never receives. “But I want them to pay attention to me. I want everybody to pay attention to me. So I shoplift candy and food and magazines and cigarettes and books and CDs and anything I can fit in my pockets” (page 7). He is unapologetic about his behavior. He sees little hope for his future or for himself. Because of this, he does not have the desire or expectation of forgiveness. “But who cares right? It's not like I'm going to be here much longer. I'm never in any one place long enough to care” (page 8). Throughout the book Zits goes through transformations in many different bodies. Through these transformations, he realizes that hatred and shame only grants you unhappiness. Every human is capable of betrayal, he learns. This allows him to empathize with others similar to his father. Once Zits begins to forgive others, he finds peace within himself and uncovers a better life. “But I'm beginning to think I've been given a chance. I'm beginning to think I might get unkindly. I'm beginning to think I might have an almost real family” (page

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First, in the novel Flight, Sherman Alexie depicts the physical, mental, and emotional growth of the protagonist, a vengeful adolescent named Zits. Zits’s

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The main character Zits in the novel “Flight” by Sherman Alexie, struggles with where he belongs in the world. He is trapped in a system of greed and trapped within himself by confusion and anger. Zits, as he calls himself, begins to have several jumps into other characters, where he is a part of the body and mind of these characters at different times in history. Each character that Zits inhabits lead him through a journey of life lessons and to his expansion of perspective and ideology. The most significant jumps are into the bodies of the little Indian boy, Jimmy the pilot, and his father.

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No matter what we do, there will always be consequences. In Sherman Alexie’s book, Flight, a fifteen year old half Native American boy named Zits struggles with many difficult topics, one of which is the theme of revenge. Zits travels through time and lives in different bodies to experience the world from different angles throughout the book. In one section of the book, Zits is in the body of a young Native American boy.

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This goes to show that by exploring his options and opening up his mind to things helped pull him out of this dark place he was in and start thinking of how he was affected by his environment and many other things. He realized that his environment, genetics, or just bad luck affected him more than he thought it did when he was younger. He shows how thankful he is when he states, “People who taught me that no accident of birth-not being black or relatively poor, being from baltimore or the Bronx or fatherless-would ever define or limit me”(5) and when he states, “What changes was that I found ii was surrounded by people-starting with my mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and leading to a straight of wonderful role models and mentors-who kept pushing me to see more than what was directly in front of me, to see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities within myself”(5). These quotes demonstrate how thankful he was for the people that helped take care of him and change him for the better even if he didnt treat them lively for a while. This shows that if you surround yourself with kind, loving, and caring people, you can

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On the surface- he is a teenage boy just living his life, yet looking just a little deeper into his life can help give some insight into what he has dealt with. At a very young age being faced with having to make tough decisions and go through traumatic events is not something most people talk about. It is given that people go through challenges throughout their life, yet the most vital part is how

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Alexie Sherman’s Flight begins in modern day Seattle with Zits, half Native-American orphan. Having to deal with the grief of his mother’s death and father's abandonment, he develops a pessimistic outlook on his future. Awaking in his new foster home, conflict with his foster parents starts immediately. Causing Zits to get arrested by Officer Dave, an officer who knows Zits from previous offenses yet acts sympathetic. While in jail, Zits meets Justice, an intelligent boy whom he shares similar views regarding the lack of Native-American rights.

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In the novel Flight by Sherman Alexie, the character Justice is imaginary in the mind of the protagonist, Zits, to validate his subconscious acts. If justice was a real person in the story, he would have been there in each scene with Zits, and with that; he would have also experienced the same consequences for his actions that Zits endured. The fact that Justice was not with Zits for a vast amount of time throughout the novel, and he also did not live through the consequences for his actions proves that he was just an imaginary figure in the mind of Zits. Zits has a pretty hard life,since a young age, his parents were never around to support him, and he moves from foster home to foster home not really getting along with anyone he meets.

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After he thinks about it, however, he realizes that the question made him notice that he wasn 't happy at all, and that “he wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on the door and ask for it back” (12). Her question makes him permanently realize that he is unsatisfied with his life because his life is empty and changes his actions and way of thinking forever because of it. After realizing this, he starts to search for enlightenment and stands outside Clarisse’s house, wanting to be accepted by them, even though they are considered an anomaly in their society because Clarisse’s family members interact

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“It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates” (Page 155). People are more willing to love than to hate. To constantly hate someone takes a lot of time and energy, which I think is part of the reason that it is easier to love. I feel again, that this lesson is still very much a part of our society. After time, people will begin to accept you after you have done something wrong.

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Flight written by Sherman Alexie is told in a first-person narrative by its protagonist Zits. He is a 15-year-old half-Native American orphan. Zits has a long history of abuse by the people around him, self-esteem issues, and a long list of past delinquencies. As one reads the novel, it looks as though many of Zits issues stem from his father 's abandonment before birth and his mother 's death when he was six years old.

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His glasses changed his perspective on life. Lastly, he was shocked by the Grandmother’s quick transformation that left him with a metaphor to describe her. The Misfit chose to forget his past crimes because they were meaningless to him. The Grandmother on the other hand, formed a dent that would positively affect his

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In the novel Flight, author Sherman Alexie “tries to validate and question ‘the individual’s desire to bridge cultural and personal difference’” (Ibarrola-Armendariz and Vivanco 7). Flight is centered around the main character, Zits, as he transforms into different bodies while simultaneously transforming his identity. He gets insight into the minds of different cultural, historical, and social backgrounds, which helps Zits change from cold and violent to understanding and sympathetic. To illustrate this change more in depth, Alexie uses various literary elements to achieve a theme of identity.

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Despite the negative stereotype of American Indians, the objections and disapproval of fellow Natives, and the criticism of others, Sherman Alexie went on to become a successful writer that has inspired many. Alexie overcame many obstacles that would have deterred him from his goal, but he was able to remain steadfast and continue on in his pursuit of writing. As a result, he has published many literary works that include several short stories, poems, and a variety of novels. He allows his culture to seep into his writing, and continues to inspire young American Indians who also desire the path of knowledge.

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