Flight Pattern
Topic: Flight Patterns by Sherman Alexie (265)
The story, “Flight Pattern” written by Sherman Alexie portrayed how humanity always paint people the way they want them to be and targets groups to be prejudice. It does not matter who you are, where you are, what you are, it is a regular practice. The stereotypes, racism, sexism, and social expectations were introduced throughout the journey of the main character, William, “a little brown guy” in the story. The story took place a year after the horrific incident of “9-11”. Within this period, everyone was looking out for suspicious “little brown guys”. William was a “bows-and-arrows Indian” (275) and a salesmen who “travelled so often, the Seattle-based flight attendants knew him by first name” (271). Every time William was at the United Airline airport, “[he] always scanned the airports and airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism.” (270). This was because everyone was framing brown skinned people as potential terrorists. Although, William was a Red Indian, he was still profiled into the same category as a dangerous brown Taliban terrorist. Therefore, William had “been pulled over for pat-down searches about 75 percent of the time” (273). This illustrates how people discriminate a group and assume they are all the same. In reality, not all people are identified as the stereotype of their origin. For instance, William is a Spokane Indian, salmon people. However, instead of the stereotype of being a typical lazy Indian collecting Government funding, William is a proud man who is passionate about his career. Not only is racism a major stereotype, but sexism is also significant throughout the story. Although racism is a major stereotype, sexism is rather significant throughout the story too. Behind William’s back, he had to carry a wife and daughter both financially and mentally. Before having William’s daughter, Grace, his wife Marie was a corporate accountant. However, she left her job to
The story, “Flight Pattern” written by Sherman Alexie portrayed how humanity always paint people the way they want them to be and targets groups to be prejudice. It does not matter who you are, where you are, what you are, it is a regular practice. The stereotypes, racism, sexism, and social expectations were introduced throughout the journey of the main character, William, “a little brown guy” in the story. The story took place a year after the horrific incident of “9-11”. Within this period, everyone was looking out for suspicious “little brown guys”. William was a “bows-and-arrows Indian” (275) and a salesmen who “travelled so often, the Seattle-based flight attendants knew him by first name” (271). Every time William was at the United Airline airport, “[he] always scanned the airports and airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism.” (270). This was because everyone was framing brown skinned people as potential terrorists. Although, William was a Red Indian, he was still profiled into the same category as a dangerous brown Taliban terrorist. Therefore, William had “been pulled over for pat-down searches about 75 percent of the time” (273). This illustrates how people discriminate a group and assume they are all the same. In reality, not all people are identified as the stereotype of their origin. For instance, William is a Spokane Indian, salmon people. However, instead of the stereotype of being a typical lazy Indian collecting Government funding, William is a proud man who is passionate about his career. Not only is racism a major stereotype, but sexism is also significant throughout the story. Although racism is a major stereotype, sexism is rather significant throughout the story too. Behind William’s back, he had to carry a wife and daughter both financially and mentally. Before having William’s daughter, Grace, his wife Marie was a corporate accountant. However, she left her job to