Name: Nguyễn Kim Toán

FLIGHT – Doris Lessing

Part A
1. What is the old man doing in the opening paragraph?
In the beginning of the story, the old man was standing by the pigeon's nest and stroking
it.
2. What part of the day is it? What does he feel at the time? How does the scene around
affect his mood?
It was a late afternoon, the old man is attending to 'his favourite, a homing pigeon', his
feelings are very serene and content.
The scene is in folds and hollows of sunlight and shade, the dark red soil, which was
broken into great dusty clods, stretched wide to a tall horizon. Trees marked the course
of the valley; a stream of rich green grass the road.
3. What is his granddaughter doing? Where is she now? How old is she?
Alice is waiting for her boyfriend Steven at the fence at the gate. She is 18 years old.
4. How does the adverb ‘politely’ reveal to readers the relationship between the girl and
her grandfather?
That adverb shows that the relationship between the old man and the granddaughter is
very close and the girl respects the old man very much.
5. Is the old man satisfied with his granddaughter’s behavior? Why / why not?
When the granddaughter enters, his feelings make a drastic change. He at once becomes
irritated and cantankerous towards her. Because he seems jealous in that she is waiting
for her boyfriend. He is very protective and possessive towards her.
6. How many members are there in the house at the moment? Who are they?
There are 4 people in the house: The old man, Lucy, Alice and Lucy’s husband.
7. What is his daughter’s reaction when the old man tells her about the girl’s dating?
The girl did the old nodding her head and sulking, but then burst out laughing and
singing as if she was provoking the old man.
8. Why does the old man object to the girl’s marriage?
Because he thinks she's too young to get married, she is the last one. He has a rather
domineering and possessive mindset.

9. What kind of gift does the young couple give the old man?
A pigeon
10. What did the young couple tell the old man?
He must shut it up for a bit until it knows this is its home.
11. What does he do after the couple gives him the gift?
He has shed his tears, his mood has calmed down and he doesn't think he's lonely
anymore.
12. How does the old man feel when he is watching his favorite bird and the others flying
and then returning?
Squeezing the pain of loss, lifted the bird on his wrist and watched it soar. Then he stood
there silently gazing at the sky.
13. What happens to the girl at the end of the story?
The girl was looking at him intently, not smiling. Then tears streamed down her face.
14. What does her reaction mean?
After seeing her grandfather lets all the birds go, Alice is standing at her grandfather.
She doesn't smile, she is wide eyed and pale in cold shadow, and the tears run shivering
off her face. Alice's tears at the end of the story is happy tears because she knows her
grandfather at last doesn't object to the relationship between her and Steven and he
totally agrees to her to marrying Steven. Besides that, Alice's tears also show us she is
happy because the hostile relationship between grandfather and granddaughter is finally
resolved.
Part B
1. How does the relationship between the grandfather, his daughter, and his
granddaughter define the many conflicts in this story?
The relationship of 3 people is a generational difference. That difference makes their
ideas also different, causing conflicts to erupt.
2. Why does the writer devote so much attention to the description of the setting - and
especially to the birds? What do the birds symbolize?
The writer devotes so much attention to a description of the setting in the "flight" story,
especially to the birds because the author wants to show us the picture of the loss of
freedom. Firstly, the writer describes that there is a dovecote with a tall wire-netted shelf
on stilts, full of strutting, preening birds. Then the writer describes the beautiful nature
around "gazing out beyond the dovecote into the landscape of a late afternoon. In folds
and hollows of sunlight and shade, the dark red soil, which was broken into great dusty
clods, stretched wide to a tall horizon. Trees marked the course of the valley, stream of
rich green grass the road". Both of these contrary descriptions not only show us that the
birds have wings but they can't fly because they are locked in the dovecote with a tall
wire-netted but also show us that although the birds are surrounded by the beautiful
views, but they cannot enjoy the view by flying around due to loss of freedom. From all
the points above, we can infer that the birds in the story symbolize the loss of freedom, in
contrast with their natural instinct.
3. What does the detail about the girl’s singing of that song contribute to the conflict
between her and the grandfather?
The detail of the girl singing seems to irritate the old man and make the conflict between
the two people more tense.
4. What is the connection between the first episode involving the old man and his birds
and the last scene?
In the first episode, the old man and the birds live happily together. However, the fear of
losing his favorite bird makes his mood shift. He deliberately holds out his wrist for the
bird to take flight, and catches it again at the moment it spreads its wings. He shuts his
favorite into the box because the old man is afraid that his favorite bird will fly away. It
also means the old man fears to lose his granddaughter, Alice, because his favorite bird
in this story symbolizes for Alice.
At the last episode, after receiving the new pigeon from Steven, the old man holds the
new bird to his face. Then he shuts the new bird in a box and takes out his favorite bird
and lets his favorite bird fly away. At last, he realizes that Steven and Alice still pay
attention on him, they don't forget him and leave him alone, which makes him feel
comfortable because he understands that Steven and Alice still care for him.
The connection between the first and the last episode is: the old man wants to keep his
favorite bird at the beginning, and he learns to let go of his favorite bird at the end. In
other words, the old man changes his mind from keeping Alice by his side at the
beginning to letting Alice get married to Steven at the end of the story.
5. Explain the man’s reaction at the end of the story? Why does he smile at his
granddaughter?
At the end of the story, the old man turns slowly, taking his time, he lifts his eyes to smile
proudly down the garden at his granddaughter. The old man's reaction at the end of the
story shows that the old man finally agrees to let his granddaughter marry Steven and he
finally accepts that his granddaughter already grows up and has to get married because
this is the rule of nature. He understands that Alice can't live with him forever and she
needs to leave home to have her own family.
The old man smiles at his granddaughter because he knows that even Alice get married
to Steven, she still cares for him, and doesn't leave him alone. He feels satisfied, so that's
why smiles at his granddaughter at the end of story.
6. The tension between the old man and the young couple seem to melt away when they
offer him the gift. Is it because the old man loves his pets so much that he turns out to be
tolerant to them or is it because of any other reason?
The old man doesn't want Alice to get married early because Alice is his last
granddaughter, she is only 18 years old and he wants to keep her a bit longer. Moreover,
the old man doesn't want Alice to get married early because he fears to lose Alice and
because the love from him for Alice is too big that he just wants to keep Alice by his side
as the way he keeps the pigeon in the story. In addition, the old man is also afraid of
being left alone, because when Alice gets married to Steven, she will leave home to have
her new family and leave him alone with his daughter. The only one who plays and
gossips with the old man may be Alice.

If she gets married and leaves home with Steven, the old man will have no one to gossip
anymore. So that's why the old man disagrees to Alice to marry early and this objection
makes the relationship between grandfather and granddaughter become badly. A young
pigeon that Steven gives to the old man represents the attention of Alice and Steven to
him. Pigeon is a kind of his most favorite bird, so giving a young pigeon as a present to
the old man proves that Alice and Steven notice and pay attention to him and they know
what the old man likes and loves.