Flight

Flight written by John Steinbeck is a story surrounding a young man named Pepe. Pepe grew up on a beautiful peaceful farm with his mother and two siblings. Pepe’s father is absent in the story. He is said to have died years before. The death of Pepe’s father seems to play an important role in Pepe’s actions. For example, Pepe always carries his father’s knife with him and is always playing with it in some manner like throwing it into a post. Pepe is constantly saying “ I am a man” to Mama. However, Mama is very condescending toward Pepe and calls him a “peanut” or a “chicken”. The fact that Pepe is constantly struggling with his mother to prove that he is a man may have influence on Pepe’s decisions. Pepe made a horrible decision on the night his mother asked him to go into town and get medicine and salt. While he was in town, Pepe drank wine and got into a quarrel with another drunken man. The fight did not end well because Pepe stabbed the other man. This led to the main plot of the story where Pepe goes on a journey to try to stay alive despite people coming after him for his childish actions. The journey itself brings about much paranoia and obstacles.Flight has a lot of foreshadowing. At the beginning of the story, the knife seems to play an important role. A knife is used to cutting things open, tearing things apart, and even killing. The knife seems to symbolize Pepe being torn apart from his family and his innocence. When Pepe left to town I was very much aware that something bad was going to happen. Throughout Pepe’s adventure in the forest I had a feeling that the story would end in death. I actually noticed that most literature that is required to read in school whether it be high school or college ends in some type of tragedy. The entire short story has many vivid details about the setting which includes not only the farm but the nearby beach and the forested mountains. The details are the only thing to brighten such a melancholy story.