What I researched and why:
After reading the first ten chapters of Flight by Sherman Alexie, I thought that the feelings Zit had about life, at least in the beginning of the novel, were accurately described by Alexie, in terms of real life situations. This attracted me to the book because it was blunt, to the point, and included the good and the bad of a boy's life. It didn't try to mask anything for the reader's sake. I decided I wanted to research other views on this novel because it is so blunt and raunchy, and I wondered how Alexie's writing style and the plot of the story affected other readers.
What I found and My Interpretation:
Researching on the web, I found many differing views on Flight, including reviews which were both supportive and un-supportive of Alexie's style of this particular novel. However, as I read through these reviews I found one which emphasized the ironic fact that Zit met a boy named Justice in jail. Here is the article: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/08/01/001410.php. The reviewer Richard Marcus claims that "Getting arrested isn't the strange part it's meeting the white kid called Justice in the prison - that's strange". With this, I realized that 'justice' was a central focus of the plot, at least up to the point I had read to, and I found this much more interesting than what other reader's views were of the story. Justice is able to convince Zip that he needs to get back at people for his current life and with this we are thrown into many different situations where characters are getting revenge, justice or vengeance for something that has occurred either to them or to a group of people they are representing (ex: when Zip is in the body of a young Indian who is contemplating slitting a white soldier's throat to avenge his own throat slaying). These continuous examples seem to portray the getting justice is an innate part of human interaction, whatever the means, in all facets of life. Justice's point of view also seems to indicate that Zit has other people to blame for the life he is leading, regardless of his age, hence the need to get back at them.
What this adds to our discussion:
I feel that this is important to our discussion because it parallels what we have been discussing in class dealing with the 20th century view on childhood. This view holds that children are a locus for competing desires, anxieties, aggressions and traumas. Naughtiness is a natural state we need to overcome. Following this then, did Zit and the other adult or near adult characters in Flight fail to overcome their naughtiness? These characters seems to completely lack any kind of adult characteristics, such as inhibition or consciousness for right and wrong. Marcus makes an interesting conclusion about this story saying "revenge turns you into the people you want revenge against", meaning that although one feels they are entitled to justice and revenge, doesn't this serve to make them just as bad as the person they are seeking justice against? Although I have a hunch, I am curious to see how/whether Alexis solves this problem towards the end of the book.
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4 comments:
In response to your question about overcoming naughtiness, I think that is a constant, every day struggle for all of us. it's not easy to behave or be a good citizen, it's always a battle with the easy, sometimes criminal, or "bad" side of us.
What stood out to me about this post, I think was also briefly said in class Tuesday. Justice, which I love that that's his name, tells Zits he has every reason to blame others for his current state. In this case, his situation is completely to blame in my opinion for the fact he had been through a double-digit amount of foster homes. But Justice makes a huge generalization, and even an observation about childhood and adolescence, that what happens during this period of time in one's life is affected strongly by outside people and when things go wrong, its the outside world's fault for making him that way.
After finishing the book, my retrospective reading of Justice and the way he influences Zits is somewhat in line with the view that revenge turns you into the person you want revenge against. I see Justice as the first influence in Zits' life that he wants to be like, and because of this father son like love that Zits develops, he allows Justice to "teach" him bad morals about true justice. Zits grows up during his time with Justice, and grows into someone who believes that shooting up a bank is "right" because it is an act of justice against the society that has put him down. Zits' resulting flight through time and morality teaches him that such "justice" is not the right thing to do and that violent and vengeful acts often result in sickening scenes of violence that no one could consider right. And so he grows up himself, steering away from the Justice path and realizing one of morality and true justice.
I enjoyed Justice as a character and he had a big influence on Zits. As he quotes Nietzsche Zits gains a better understanding of how he feels and why he is such a lonely character. Justice shapes Zits, much in the way that the foster homes have, and is what directly causes the "time-traveling" and the bank shooting. Although the previously mentioned happenings were bad, it ended up beneficial to Zits because he changed his ways and was put in a good family. I believe that this would not have been possible without the interesting character Justice who seemingly created and environment for Zits to be influenced by (living in the warehouse, shooting, etc.).
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