Literary Analysis: "Flight" by John Steinbeck 1
Oscar Trejo Jr
April 19, 2008 In the short story known as “Flight” which is written by the American author John Steinbeck, The main character of the story is given a once in a lifetime chance to become a man just like his father once was. He abruptly accepts this chance from his mother after being told what he needed. Why does this young individual accept this task knowing the dangerousness of it? The answers could very well lie within his own personal battles. After a chance encounter with a random group of guys, this young individual soon realizes the importance of not growing up too quick… a lesson that may have been taught a little too late. The story begins with an introduction of the characters which includes Mama Torres, the antagonist, Pepe, the protagonist along with several other family members. Other people who are introduced include Mrs. Rodriguez who happens to live in Monterrey and is a good friend of the Torres family. She also does not appear in the story.
It is at her place that Pepe becomes drunk and stabs a drunken stranger. Since the beginning of the story, Pepe is constantly berated by his mother about being too lazy and not being near a man like his father. Evidence of this includes mama Torres saying “Some lazy cow must have got into thy father's family, else how could I have a son like thee." His laziness comes as a result of spending all day practicing with a knife that his father gave him shortly before he died. The scene is set fifteen miles away from Monterrey, Mexico, at the Torres family farm which is owned by Mama Torres. It happens to be a little shack standing next to another rotting barn. Pepe is introduced in the story as a cocky, and impetuous individual as proof by Harold Bloom's analysis “Pepe is a cocky and impetuous but mentally limited young man who is destroyed when a social situation places him responsibilities that he is unequipped to assume.” One thing that Pepe continuously struggles with is being a man like his father once was. It's an internal struggle that later on, causes his demise. It is a problem that stems from his Mother who repeatedly tells her son that he is too lazy to be a man. The plot summary of this short story starts off with a complication with being a man. With Pepe's size and laziness, his mama continues to literally berate him by calling him names. At one point in the beginning she insults Pepe by say “Thou a man? Thou is a peanut.”
At the same time, he struggles with an external complication when he is sent to buy medicine for the family, which is considered to be a man's job. While on his trip, he ends up stabbing a guy and is later pursued by the man's friends. The climax of the story takes place when his horse is shot and he looses his tools, resulting in an even bigger disadvantage for him in the wilderness. The end comes when Pepe finally gets up to his feet and realizes at that point, that his journey towards manhood has concluded with him reaching his goal. Unable to speak or walk, his pursuers finally get a lock on him and shoots him, resulting in an avalanche which eventually causes his death.
Tags: Analysis , Flight , Steinbeck
