Summary Of The Saturday Morning Ritual Of Flight

“It was 1968, a banner year for fear, with bad news appearing on television almost as regularly as weatherbulletins”
Observing his childhood, we can presume that he has experienced a very linear, albeit slightly terrifying, childhood. The narrator is very innocent at the start of the story, and throughout the story develops his perspective, with a climax at the end which showcases his outlook having peaked and that he has now gone from innocent, to realistic.
“Even then, at the age of nine, when there was so little about the world I understood, I knew that something had changed, that the Saturday morning ritual of horror was over”.
He had been raised in an environment where he was shielded from any threats, and taught proper manners in the
The only difference between them and the people in the theater, is their skin color. When they noticed this, they felt trapped. Flight seemed impossible, and they sat in silence. Their city was segregated into two distinct neighbourhoods, and they had not been taught anything about their black neighbours other than the racist jokes that they had overheard from their parents. This is a crucial turning point in the story, because this is where they learn that they are not hostile. They learn to let loose, they join in on the heckling. They embrace the
“The moment we entered the Roxy’s lobby, with its thick pillars, oceanic carpet and chandelier the size of a pickup truck, we could tell this was like no movie house we’d ever seen” - he also later describes a colored man as “chocolate-colored”. Kevin and the narrator returns several times over the following weeks to watch more movies, indulging the culture to the fullest. This all changed after the assassination of Martin Luther King. “Someone named King was dead. I was confused - this was America, we didn’t have kings here”. The narrator does not understand what has happened. His parents, are very scared. The following days of the assassination, there is extreme paranoia in his neighborhood. Even though the protests and riots are far away, the townsfolk had gathered with hunting rifles. Meanwhile, in the eastern neighborhood, tension was even higher. When the narrator and Kevin once again, went to the Roxy Theatre, everything had changed. The assassination of Martin Luther King had sparked racial division amongst people of any age. The story does a throwback, to the start of the story (See second quote) - “Even then, at the age of nine, when there was so little about the world I understood, I knew that something had changed, that the Saturday morning ritual of horror was over”. This time, even though they people in the theater is actually