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A review by mnboyer
Flight by Sherman Alexie
5.0
Once I actually started reading this book, it took two hours, and I'm in love
Flight is a fantastic novel that describes the plight of a young, urban Indian boy named Zits. Alexie begins by playing with several key factors that effect urban Indians--Zits has not family (an absent, alcoholic father and a dead mother), he has been transferred from foster home to community homes back to foster homes (some of which include sexual abuse), he himself experiments with drugs and alcohol, he lacks a proper education, he has no connection to his Native identity (because he does not even know his Native father)--the book is simply full of negative aspects of Indian lives in contemporary urban settings. At first, Zits' only coping mechanism is to drink with other Indians he finds in alleys or to react violently to the situation around him.
After meeting a boy named Justice, Zits ends up walking into a bank where he shoots several individuals. A guard shoots him in the head, but this actually just starts a series of momentary flashes in which Zits finds himself in other people's bodies. He is not always in a Native body, but moves back and forth between both Native bodies and white bodies. Much of the narrative revolves around Alexie's commentary on war: there is good/bad on both sides of war, which cannot be determined by skin color. Yet, it seems that, through Zits, we are meant to understand that killing is never "right" no matter what the justification is.
Throughout the novel, there are several small inserts and allusions to Native American statistics and lifestyles. For example, Zits comments on how after the end of the Indian Wars, Indians were forced to go to boarding schools where their Native traditions were taken away, their languages were banned, and their hair was cut--these small suggestive moments help to describe how the urban Indian community has come to be, and explains, in part, how so many negative postcolonial traumas effect that community. In terms of allusions, there are many that reference Native issues. But keep in mind the opening line, "Call me Zits," is an allusion to [b: Moby Dick|153747|Moby-Dick; or, The Whale|Herman Melville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940656s/153747.jpg|2409320].
I absolutely loved this novel--I'm working with it for a Ph.D. paper on American Indian young adult literature and its potential benefits in the junior-high and high-school classroom for Native students. This book is great for this project. But this book is great for so many other purposes! I recommend that everyone pick and and spend some time with [a: Sherman Alexie|4174|Sherman Alexie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1333515890p2/4174.jpg], even if it is not this book (but you will not regret this rich story!).
Simply wonderful and crafted with a keen eye. Highly recommended!
Flight is a fantastic novel that describes the plight of a young, urban Indian boy named Zits. Alexie begins by playing with several key factors that effect urban Indians--Zits has not family (an absent, alcoholic father and a dead mother), he has been transferred from foster home to community homes back to foster homes (some of which include sexual abuse), he himself experiments with drugs and alcohol, he lacks a proper education, he has no connection to his Native identity (because he does not even know his Native father)--the book is simply full of negative aspects of Indian lives in contemporary urban settings. At first, Zits' only coping mechanism is to drink with other Indians he finds in alleys or to react violently to the situation around him.
After meeting a boy named Justice, Zits ends up walking into a bank where he shoots several individuals. A guard shoots him in the head, but this actually just starts a series of momentary flashes in which Zits finds himself in other people's bodies. He is not always in a Native body, but moves back and forth between both Native bodies and white bodies. Much of the narrative revolves around Alexie's commentary on war: there is good/bad on both sides of war, which cannot be determined by skin color. Yet, it seems that, through Zits, we are meant to understand that killing is never "right" no matter what the justification is.
Throughout the novel, there are several small inserts and allusions to Native American statistics and lifestyles. For example, Zits comments on how after the end of the Indian Wars, Indians were forced to go to boarding schools where their Native traditions were taken away, their languages were banned, and their hair was cut--these small suggestive moments help to describe how the urban Indian community has come to be, and explains, in part, how so many negative postcolonial traumas effect that community. In terms of allusions, there are many that reference Native issues. But keep in mind the opening line, "Call me Zits," is an allusion to [b: Moby Dick|153747|Moby-Dick; or, The Whale|Herman Melville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940656s/153747.jpg|2409320].
I absolutely loved this novel--I'm working with it for a Ph.D. paper on American Indian young adult literature and its potential benefits in the junior-high and high-school classroom for Native students. This book is great for this project. But this book is great for so many other purposes! I recommend that everyone pick and and spend some time with [a: Sherman Alexie|4174|Sherman Alexie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1333515890p2/4174.jpg], even if it is not this book (but you will not regret this rich story!).
Simply wonderful and crafted with a keen eye. Highly recommended!