Flight By John Steinbeck In his classic
short story, "Flight," John Steinbeck uses many examples of
symbolism to foreshadow the conclusion. Symbolism can be a
person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself.
Steinbeck uses colors, direction, and nature symbolism to help
presage Pepé's tragic death. The most repeatedly used symbol in
"Flight," is the color black. In literature many authors use
black to represent death. There are numerous examples of this
color in the story. Some of these 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, he is
literally covering himself with death. Another fine example is
the trail in which Pepé travels. Steinbeck describes the path as
a well-worn black path. By traveling on this path he is in fact
taking the road of death. Furthermore Pepé's appearance also
helps foreshadow the ending. Steinbeck describes him as having a
black hat that covers his black thatched hair. Pepé is also
described as being dark, lean and tall. Another example is
Pepé's shack. The shack is described as weathered and very old.
It casts a rather large shadow to the North east. The darkness
of the shadow symbolizes death in the home. As we can readily
see, the author's use of black symbolizes, Pepé's impending
death. Another commonly used symbol in the story "Flight," is
direction. Direction is used to represent positive or negative
effects. North and East are generally "good" directions. Many
people feel this came about because the sun rises in the East.
On the other hand, the directions South and West are generally
"bad" directions. Basically this is because the sun sets in the
West. In addition to compass directions, height is also a very
popular way of foreshadowing the conclusion of the story. The
direction up, which is the way to heaven, is generally "good,"
while down, the direction of hell, is considered to be "bad." An
example of this form of symbolism can be found when Pepé is
returning home. Pepé looks at his "weathered little shack" and
notices the shadow. The shadow is heading in the direction North
East. Even though the directions North and East are "good," the
fact that the shadow is there turns them "bad." This means that
evil is winning over goodness. In whichever direction Pepé
turns, he will fall encounter evil. Another fine example is when
Pepé watches the sun set in the West. The sun, which is the
bringer of all life is moving towards evil. That means it will
be dark out and Pepé's death is eminent. Steinbeck further uses
this symbolism while describing the tops of the trees on the
mountain. The tops of the trees were wind-bitten and dead. This
symbolizes that the further Pepé travels up the mountain the
closer he is to his inevitable death. Throughout the story
Steinbeck emphasizes nature symbolism. Nature symbolism includes
a variety of things. One very popular symbol is water. Because
of the fact that we, as humans, require water in order to live,
water represents life. An example of this in the story "Flight,"
would be Pepé's water bag that he hung over his horse's
shoulder. The water leaked onto the horse's shoulder. This meant
Pepé's life was actually leaking away. It just so happened that
when the horse was shot it was in the same shoulder. The most
obvious example of nature symbolism would be when Pepé is
traveling up the mountain. When he first starts out he is
traveling very close to the river. As he continues with his
journey, the path in which he travels has the tendency to turn
more and more away from the river. In reality this means Pepé is
moving further away from life and closer to his inevitable
death. These are just a couple of situations in the story
"Flight" that help the reader catch a glimpse of the ending of
the story. As we can clearly see, John Steinbeck has used many
techniques and examples of symbolism to help portray the ending
of the short story, "Flight." Some of these examples include
colors, direction, and nature. The color black, which is the
universal symbol of death, is used to help foreshadow Pepé's
inevitable death. Direction is used frequently in the story
to symbolize the direction that Pepé is heading; if he is
heading towards good or evil. Nature, especially water, is
another form of symbolism that Steinbeck utilizes. Water equals
life. Therefore when Pepé moves further and further away from
the river, he is actually moving closer to his death. The
author's use of symbolims throughout the story prepares the
reader for Pepé's destiny.
By John
Steinbeck In his classic short story, "Flight,"
John Steinbeck uses many examples of
symbolism to foreshadow the conclusion. ...
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