Flight by John Steinbeck
Summary: Flight is a story about Pepe'. Pepe' is a young man but he still has boyish qualities until he kills a man for calling him names. Pepe' flees to the mountains in an attempt to get away from his pursuers, but in the end he is shot.
Characters:
Mama Torres - widow taking care of three children
Pepe' - Oldest son of Mama Torres - nineteen
Emilio - Youngest child of Mama Torres
Rosy - Middle child of mama torres
Section One:
- Mama Torres is a widow by herself taking care of the children
- Pepe' is the lazy oldest child; he has a knife that was his dad's; he carries the knife everywhere
- Pepe' is throwing the knife at a post when Mama Torres tells him he is to go to town to get supplies
Section Two:
- Pepe' puts on a green silk handkerchief, and gets the money for the medicine, salt, and candy
- Emilio and Rosy ask if Pepe' is a man now, Mama Torres replies a boy becomes a man when a man is needed
Section Three:
- Pepe' comes home late at night with the medicine; Mama Torres ask why he is home and not at the friends house
- Pepe' explains everything that happened; Pepe' has killed a man with his knife after the man called him names
- Pepe' says he must go into the mountains, Mama Torres helps him by giving him jerky, a sleep roll, the gun with ten bullets, and the fresh horse
- Pepe' is no longer a boy but now is a man; Even his physical features seemed changed " The fragile quality seemed to have gone from his chin. His mouth was less full than it had been, the lines of the lips were straighter" , " there was no luaghter in them( his eyes) any more"
- Mama Torres does the death wail for Pepe' after he is out of sight, he is dead to her now
- Rosy tells Emilio Pepe' became a man last night, now he must go on a journey and they will never see him again
Section Four:
- Pepe' is on the trail into the mountains;
- Pepe' sees one of the "dark watchers" ; all that is known about them is that it is better to show interest in them
- Pepe' see a dark watcher for a second time, he decides to look away quickly but when he rest he watches the trail closely;
- Pepe' sees a wildcat creeping, he reaches for his knife but it is gone; He scares the birds and it leaves; Pepe' goes to sleep
Section Five:
- Pepe' is relaxing when his horse is shot and dies; While hiding from the gunman a bullet misses him barely but a piece of granite goes through his hand. (he was hiding next to a large rock)
- Pepe' manages to creep away for the night, but he realizes he forogot his gun, he can't find it so he falls asleep;
- Pepe' awakes with his armpit hurting and his arm swollen; he hears horses with dogs coming his way; hides away for a another night
- Pepe' awakes again, his arm is worse; Pepe' usesw a sharp stone to break the flesh and squeeze out the infected area
- Pepe' makes a prayer, he hears the bay of hounds; then he his shot and topples off of the cliff dead
Other Notes:
- Mama Torres is not wealthy, she sends the children to get food from the ocean everyday; and the money seems very important to her when she says it is for the medicine
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