Perhaps the most repeatedly used symbol in "Flight," is the color black. In literature many authors use black to represent death. There are numerous examples in this short story. Some of these include the black handle on the long blade, Pepe's black hair and the black jerky. Another example may be found when Pepe puts on his fathers black coat, which represents death. When Pepe puts on the coat he is literally covering himself with death. Another fine example is the trail in which Pepe travels. Steinbeck describes the path as a well-worn black path. By traveling on this path he is in fact taking the road of death. Furthermore Pepe's appearance also helps foreshadow the ending. Steinbeck describes him as having a black hat that covers his black thatched hair.

Throughout the story Steinbeck emphasizes nature symbolism. Nature symbolism includes a variety of things. One very popular symbol is water. Because of the fact that we, as humans, require water in order to live, water represents life. An example of this in the story "Flight," would be Pepe's water bag that he hung over his horse's shoulder. The water leaked onto the horse's shoulder. This meant Pepe's life was actually leaking away. It just so happened that when the horse was shot it was in the same shoulder. The most obvious example of nature symbolism would be when Pepe is traveling up the mountain. When he first starts out he is traveling very close to the river. As he continues with his journey, the path in which he travels has the tendency to turn more and more away from the river. In reality this means Pepe is moving further away from life and closer to his inevitable death. These are just a couple of situations in the story "Flight" that help the reader catch a glimpse of the ending of the story. As we can clearly see, John Steinbeck has used many techniques and examples of symbolism to help portray the ending of the short story, "Flight." Some of these examples include colors, direction, and nature. The color black, which is the universal symbol of death, is used to help foreshadow Pepe's inevitable death.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 891
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)