Foster 1 Darriell Foster Mr.

Newman English 101: Rhetoric November 5, 2013 The bottom of the Desperation Barrel Why cant life deal us the cards we need in order to achieve everything in our existence which we would like? No matter how much we achieve, it never seems to be enough to satisfy us and we end up being pitiful in our own eyes and in the eyes of those around us. But humans fail to realize that those around them are having the same problems, some even live a life worse than the ones we have. All it takes is for one uninterrupted moment with someone to have a heart-toheart in order to notice that there may be someone who has a worse life or to at least understand that everyone has their own problems which can in turn help other deal with their own problems in a healthy manner. In the short story Flight Patterns, by Sherman Alexie the theme that everyone has their own problems throughout the story; from the main character William, to his daughter and wife, and a complete stranger whos a cab driver for William. Nevertheless, William experiences a deeper realization than anyone else in the story. Starting from the beginning of the short story Alexie takes us into the life of William who is a Native American business. As he is leaving for the airport to go on a business we have a small glimpse into the life he has at home, and from the small peek the reader is able to see that his family is very mixed up and are experiencing troubles of their own. Starting with the struggle Williams wife has with him as she is desperately trying to get him to stay at home with her, using every sexual expression and everything sexual about her unkempt hair. Even as her husband kept telling her he had to go and even went to the extreme and said her breath stunk, she

Foster 2 continued with sexual statement such as come back to bed, and Ill make it worth your while, and If you stay home, Ill make you Scooby (50,51). By her doing this it shows that by William leaving ever so often she has grown to either be sexually frustrated or shes just using her body in a way to which it will make him stay because she fears something even larger than that of sex. For instance, 9/11, which took place a few years prior, we learn later in the story, but is still fresh in their minds and since her husband is forced to fly a lot on the planes she worries for him; this is an example of a problem which is brought up in the story. In addition, Williams daughter, Grace, is also brought up as William is leaving to go to the airport and she is struggling with herself and who she is which is abnormal considering she is at young age. William gives the reader the image of his daughter as he is walking in her room early in morning starting by saying she was wide awakeand looked so magical and androgynous with her huge brown eyes and crew-cut hair (51). He continues with the statement she made which lead to her strange choice in hairstyle, I dont want long hair, I dont want short hair, I dont want hair at all, and I dont want to be a girl or boy, I want to be a yellow and orange leaf some little kid picks up and pastes in his scrapbook (51.) These odd statements and choice of hair shows Grace acting out in a weird way to either get her fathers attention in order for him to not leave. Other than family problems William experiences problems in society because of the way he looks after the 9/11 attack which is still fresh in the minds of Americans. It doesnt help that he is constantly in airport facing discrimination because he was a little brown guy, just like the terrorists and so ...the other travelers were always sniffing around him (52). But he also found himself being afraid of those who looked like the terrorists which made him be on the alert which is ironic.

Foster 3 Through the wife and daughter of William one can tell that he has a hard life and that he has a lot to be distressed about. However, when William enters into the cab of an African man, he soon is shown that he his few problems with him family could never compare to the cab drivers problems and he learns to coop with the few problems with his family and the outside world. First off, all the cab driver, Fekadu, was once a pilot in Ethiopia until he left due to the fact that he could no longer fly planes that dropped bombs and killed the people from his country. Nevertheless, he left with only a hug and kiss to his family without them knowing where he was going or with any of them; he left them all alone to fight for their own lives against the dictator who had a strong grip on his family, and even if he tried going back after the dictator died he is too afraid. At this point as William was listening he began to stop judging the cab driver as a person but began to think about how they were the same yet very different and he came to realize that somewhere in the world, somewhere in Africa or the United States, a man, a jet pilot, wanted to fly away from the war he was supposed to fight (60). This thought and drive made William realize that everyone goes through something which they have no control over and it made him feel as if the little things he stressed couldnt compare and he should instead be thankful for the life he does have control over. The two families can also be compared and contrasted to see who has a more devastating life than the other. The family of William has it better off than the family of Fekadu because even though they want William to be with them rather on the planes which can take him away from them. On the other hand, Fekadu was actually taken away from his family because of a plane which could show that the other family at least gets to see William but this family doesnt get that chance. So even though William runs the risk of not coming back he is more than likely going to come back unlike Fekadu.

Foster 4 Everyone has that moment in life where they are troubled by their lives but they never really know how good they have it until they meet someone who has it worse who just may be a stranger. We should be thankful for all that we have in this life now because we never know when it will be gone and we all have problems which seem to be important at that moment. There is a quote by a person named Kelli Jae Baeli which states When one hits the bottom of the Desperation Barrel, there is always someone down there. So the final question is are your problems that bad or in other words, are you at the bottom of the Desperation Barrel.

Foster 5 Work Cited Alexie, Sherman. "Flight Patterns." 2003. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005. 49-61. Print. SearchQuotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. <http://www.searchquotes.com/ quotes/author/Kelli_Jae_Baeli/>. "When one hits the bottom of the Desperation Barrel, there is always someone down there."

Rubric for Literary Analysis Purpose (33): Successful (A+ thru B): Demonstrates a superior understanding of Flight Patterns in that you analyze and not just summarize the story Shows a complex understanding of the Critical Lens/ Lit Device/Moment concept/Area of Interest

Genre (33): Successful (A+ thru B): Contains a thesis in the last sentence of the intro that effectively captures your argument Includes well-chosen support from throughout the text that supplements the thesis Analysis is academic in nature

Design/Layout (20): Successful (A+ thru B): Uses MLA format to skillfully weave quotes and paraphrases into the text Uses a 12-point, Times New Roman font with a double-spaced page Includes a creative title, appropriately placed headers, heading, and page numbers Includes a Works Cited page that accurately lists the text(s) used

Audience (25): Successful (A+ thru B): Uses vocabulary appropriate for a college audience

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Assumes a level of intelligence and sophistication for the audience Grammar/spelling/punctuation should be appropriate for a college freshman

Stance (14): Successful (A+ thru B): Offers a convincing argument Includes a consistent tone that presents your perspective appropriately