Flight by
Sherman Alexie
I recently finished a spectacular book, Flight, by
Sherman Alexie. This was my book club's reading book, and we spent about three
weeks reading and analyzing the text. Beneath the thin layer of sci-fi and
fantasy, this novel held many interesting "characters", as well as
extremely thought-provoking and eye-opening lessons. The main character, Zits, undergoes
a journey of moral reasoning, resulting in the product of a much better person.
You might be wondering why the word
"characters" is in quotations mark in the paragraph above. well, the
answer is quite simple. There are many different people in this book, yet they
are all played by the same character. Let me explain; Zits was born to an
abandoning alcoholic for a father and a soon-to-die mother. After Zits' father
left him before he was even born, Zits' mother died of breast cancer due to
grief. Zits moved on to become a foster child, and started into his life of
darkness. Then, in about 14 years, he committed a terrible crime, and
murdered loads of innocent people. Zits was shot dead.
After getting shot, Zits woke up in the body of an FBI
agent in the late 20th century. This was confusing for Zits, as well as the
reader. But then the "body swapping", as my group called it, occurred
more and more frequently. And that's when we came to the conclusion that all of
this mayhem and confusion was merely a moral journey on a quest for redemption.
After we came to that conclusion, there was so much more meaning to every word
in the book, with every chapter resulting in thoughts that really got our heads
spinning.
For one, this book gave us a whole new outlook on
criminal actions. Because we were reading in the perspective of the criminal,
we grew feelings towards Zits, even if he was an evil person. We knew his
story, we knew his thoughts, we knew his emotions; we knew everything. Now that
I had experienced a point of view that was completely new to me, my outlook on
crimes changed drastically. It made me think, "what's the story behind
every crime? Were the criminals even thinking when they committed these
crimes?".
As you can see, this novel got me in a mindset like no other book has ever done for me. the lessons to be learned and the developed character all make for an intriguing, moving, and mind-boggling novel. So much happened through the course of this text, and every word of it had me on the edge of my seat. I found it awe-inspiring, to say the least, what Zits went through and the effect of his journey. This book changed the way I think, and that is most definitley something that stands out in a book. Bravo, Sherman.
