Flying Home: Jefferson’s Story
I was fascinated by Jefferson’s retelling of his time in heaven. It felt nostalgic, like listening to my grandpa talk to me about his life and how hard he worked. But it had this wonderful symbolism of not only the picturing of heaven for Jefferson, but what it means beyond that. It almost pains to read Todd’s reaction as embarrassed and hurt by Jefferson’s story, because that was obviously not the purpose. We tried discussing in class what the purpose could be, and not too many people, including myself, knew. It was a hard question to ask. If I could offer a bit of insight, one theme I saw was the power of paradise and how it affected Jefferson. He thought he could do what he wanted in heaven, fly where he wanted, go as fast as he wanted, and even do loopity loops. But he still needed to follow the structure that was being placed upon him, the harness that restrains him. It’s a powerful story that I still find heartfelt and important to the understanding of Ellison.
- Ellison’s Eerie Essay “Tell It Like It Is, Baby”
- The Diction of Ellison: Integration vs. Desegregation
I agree that the heaven story was a crucial scene within Flying Home, and I thought that although it was misinterpreted by Todd, it offered a glimpse of what the older generation of black people in America thought about their position in society. It is an acknowledgement that black men could indeed be great, perhaps the best, but the system of the world was not designed to suit them. In one sense, it is a view of confidence, a knowledge that they had the potential to be better than anyone, and in another sense it is one of hopelessness, because they cannot excel in the world because of the social system around them.