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  • Essay / A view of revenge continues in Sherman Alexie's book, Flight

    Cycle of RevengeGandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. » What Gandhi meant was that taking revenge would create a destructive cycle. In Sherman Alexie's Flight he shows the vicious cycle in action. In the story, there is a boy named Zits who discovers the true meaning of revenge by apparently getting himself killed and then incarnating himself into the people on both sides of the Indian War. His recurring theme on revenge is that revenge becomes a never-ending cycle, there are those who seek to continue the cycle and those who wish to end it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Revenge becomes a cycle when someone harms one person and seeks to harm anyone associated with that person. When Zits incarnates as an Indian child, he wakes up in the middle of an Indian camp. He soon meets his father and then realizes that his throat has been slit by an American soldier. When the camp was attacked by Custer's cavalry, the tribe successfully fought them off. He is then given the opportunity to slit the throat of a young white soldier. At first he is confused, but then “[he] remembers: a white soldier slit his throat…and now my father wants revenge. He wants me to want revenge” (Alexie 75 years old). Everyone around Zits also wants him to take revenge, but he realizes that if he takes revenge on this soldier, the soldier's family and friends will also have the right to take revenge on the Indians. Zits realizes that the cycle will continue as long as both sides take revenge on each other. This shows that the cycle of revenge will continue until someone on one side steps in and stops the endless cycle. The cycle of revenge continues when a group of people kill someone's family and wish to kill anyone associated with that person. Zits is now played as an old white Indian tracker named Gus. Zits quickly realizes where this is going to lead him and tries to avoid it, but Gus's will is too strong. When he instinctively leads the soldiers to a hill overlooking the Indian camp, Gus has a flashback and sees the "massacred white settlers... the body of a little girl... laying out the naked body of a woman... forever holding this little girl” (87). This is the flashback Zits sees when he is on the ridge above the Indian camp. Zits senses Gus's grief and anger and rushes into the camp. They are mercilessly killing innocent Indian women and children. These soldiers believe they are bringing justice to those massacred in the city, but they are only continuing the cycle. It is also possible to stop the cycle or take revenge. During the battle, Zits sees a young white soldier, whom he nicknames "Little Saint", chase and pick up a little Indian boy and run towards the forest. Zits quickly mounts his horse, picks them up and helps them escape and how he wants to “outrun this revenge monster” (97). Zits classifies revenge as a monster, showing that revenge can lead someone innocent to become a "monster". Zits falls from his horse and is injured. Little Saint tries to keep him going. Zits finally asks the boy why he did this, and Small Saint replies, "I joined the military to defend people, and that's what I'm doing right now." » Little Saint, as young as he is, understands that revenge will become a cycle that will kill many innocent people for the actions of their people. He tries to stop the pace and do what he thinks is right. When you want revenge on a group of people who hurt your family, you want to go kill them, but there are those who seek to stop the.