John Steinbeck - Flight

                In the short story “Flight” by John Steinbeck there is a lot of symbolism.  Symbolism is used to portray something beyond itself.  In this short story it is used to represent or foreshadow the ending of the story.  The symbol that is used the most often is the color black.  Black usually represents death.  There are several examples of this in the story.  Some examples include the black handle on the long blade, Pepé’s black hair and the black jerky.  Another example is when Pepé puts  on his father’s black coat, which represents death.  He is literally killing himself when he covers himself with the black coat.  The path that Pepé travels on is described as a well-worn black path.  He is in fact taking the road of death by traveling on this path.  His appearance also helps to foreshadow the ending of the story.  Steinbeck describes Pepé as having a black hat that covers his black thatched hair.  He is also described as being dark, lean and tall.  The shack in which they live is portrayed as weather-beaten and very old.  The shack casts a large shadow to the North east.  The darkness of the shadow symbolizes death in the home.  Steinbeck’s use of black symbolism tells us that the main character, Pepé, is approaching death.  Another symbol that is used in the story is direction.  Direction is used to represent positive or negative effects.  The North and East are generally “good” directions.  I feel like this came about when the early man saw the sun rise in the East.  The directions South and West generally are “bad” directions.  This is because the sun sets in the West.  Height is also a very popular way of foreshadowing the conclusion of the story.  The direction up, which is also the way to heaven is generally “good.”  The direction down is bad because it is the way to hell.  This symbolism can be found when  Pepé is returning home.  He looks at his “weathered little shack” and notices the shadow.  The shadow that he sees is heading in the direction of North East.  Although the directions North and East are “good,” the fact that the shadow is there turn them “bad.”  In this situation, this means that evil is winning over goodness.  No matter which direction  Pepé turns he will fall to evil.  Another example is when Pepé watches the sun set in the West.  The sun is the bringer of all life and it is moving towards evil as well.  This means that it will be dark out and Pepé’s death is soon to come.  Steinbeck also uses symbolism through describing the trees on the mountain.  The tops of the trees were wind-bitten and dead.  So this means that the further Pepé travels up the mountain the closer he is to his foreseeable death.  Steinbeck also uses nature as a symbol.  In this short story the nature symbol is water.  Humans require water in order to live.  Water represents life.  This symbol is found with Pepé's water bag which hung over his horse’s shoulder.  The water leaked from the water bag onto the horse’s shoulder.  This could mean that his life was actually leaking away.  When the horse was shot it was in the same shoulder as his water bag.  Another example of nature symbolism is when Pepé travels up the mountain.  When he starts out he is traveling very close to the river.  The further that he travels on the path, he seems to turn more and more from the river.  This means that  Pepé is moving further away from life and closer to his foreseeable death.  This was an awesome story and I enjoyed reading it.               

        

Trejo, Oscar. "Literary Analysis: "Flight" by John Steinbeck 1 | GroundReport." Hyperlocal News & Opinion Around the World | GroundReport. 19 Apr. 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2011.

"Flight Summary & Study Guide - John Steinbeck - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 26 Mar. 2011.