Uncertain Quest

John Steinbeck's story, "Flight," is the story of the mestizo boy Pepй Torres and his tragic journey to become a man. Raised on a farm between Monterey and the mountains (425), Pepй was the first son of a Hispanic father and an Indian mother. The setting of the story is in the middle of these two worlds, which lets the reader know that they are both equally important in Pepй's manhood development. Pepй Torres's journey through manhood is affected by the conflict within himself on whether to become a man in his father's or his mother's eyes, and it is influenced by the presence of conventional and natural symbols, and also, defined by biblical allusions.

During the first half of the complication of the story, Pepй's manhood is defined by conventional symbols. His conflict begins when he has to leave for Monterey to get salt and some medicine (427), and he has to enter his father's Hispanic world. First and foremost, after his father's death, Pepй acquires a black knife, and he always has it with him because it was his father's knife (426). This is the first object that Pepй relates with his manhood. Before starting his trip to Monterey, his mother gives him his father's hat (428), which was a symbol of dignity and age. He also rides on his father's horse, using his father's saddle (428), which symbolically represents man's control over nature. Pepй believes these objects make him a man, for he says to his mother before leaving that he is a man now (428). While in Monterey, Pepй drinks wine and gets into a "little quarrel" (430) where he kills a man with his father's knife (431). Although he believes he is a man now, Pepй shows by his actions that he is still a boy, when he goes back to the farm and his mother, and runs away into the mountains (431-433). Before he leaves, he acquires his father's black coat and his rifle with ten cartridges (431). All these events make Pepй's manhood rise because of foolish beliefs, and he leaves for the mountains thinking he is a man (432). This action leads to the second turning point in the story, where Pepй enters his mother's world.

In the second half of the complication, Pepй's manhood is redefined by natural symbols, all of these belonging to his mother's Indian world. During his journey through the mountains, Pepй faces animals which symbolically represent a challenge to his journey through manhood. Therefore his beliefs on manhood decrease through struggle, until his redemption. Going up the hill, Pepй encounters a rabbit that runs away and hides from him (434). The animal is afraid of Pepй and men. Suddenly, Pepй hears someone coming and runs and hides himself from another man, like the rabbit had done before (435). Eventually, Pepй loses his hat, which means he has lost dignity and age. Later in the path, Pepй faces a wildcat and although he believes the cat left because he was afraid of him, the beast looked at him, and then "fearlessly walked back into the gulch" (438). Throughout his journey, Pepй also loses his father's saddle and he gets wounded by nature (439-440), which makes the reader know that he has lost control over nature. He has now become a man in nature. Next on the road, Pepй encounters a snake and when the animal raises his head, "he backed up and took another way" (441). On his path, he also faces rabbits, birds, and a doe (435-436), and these animals do not run away from him anymore. They are afraid of men, but not of Pepй. The last animal he faces is a lion, and the beast "yawned" (443) at Pepй's presence, but runs away upon hearing other men approaching (443). By this point, Pepй has lost all of his father's belongings, and his beliefs in manhood based on these conventional symbols are defeated by nature. He has not become a man yet.

Along with Pepй's definition of manhood, the story is also about Steinbeck's definition of mankind. For this purpose, the author uses biblical allusions to define and redefine humankind, always falling first into sin, and then looking for redemption. The story of Pepй Torres is like the biblical story of Adam and Eve, where Adam represents Pepй's father who ungracefully