Teen Violence on the Example of Novel Flight - Literature review Example

Teen Violence Written in the first person perspective, ‘Flight’ is the to Sherman Alexie’s novel. The novel focuses on a delinquent, Zits, a 15 year old Native American youth. The reader meets Zits who has been abandoned and moved from one foster home to another, and is currently on the run from his 21st foster home. Since age 11, Zits has been in and out of Juvenile detention facilities as well as drinking with homeless people on the streets. The protagonist frequently runs into trouble with authority and is just about to embark on a wave of violence in his different forms as a time traveller. In ‘flight’, the author addresses the theme of violence through the different transformations of Zits. In struggling to find his identity and conforming to societal standards, Zits’s ultimate realization of forgiveness enables him to find redemption and thus challenge traditional ways of thinking. When the novel begins, the reader is introduced to an unapologetic Zit. He behaves in a forceful and aggressive manner. He paints his future in a dim light and has lost almost all hope. Zit’s anger stems from the reason that his father has abandoned him and his mother died and left him at a young age. Further, he has been bounced between foster homes and appears to have no family. These situations lead him to develop anger, which he is willing to take out on anyone around him (Alexie 8). When Zits meets a new friend in Justice, a white boy, he appears to have met someone who finally understands him. Justice introduces him to violence which he hopes would release the anger and hatred within Zits. He hopes violence will redeem him of his anger. Justice manipulates Zits to rob a bank, but it is through this episode that Zits real transformation begins. His time travel back to life reveals to him just how tragic violence can be. Zits transformations when robbing the bank reveal to him how violence can have dire consequences. He experiences time travel that ‘flights’ him back through the lives and experiences of different historical figures. As he lives in the time and space of these individuals, he witnesses the violence and pain they inflicted on their victims. When he awakes in the body of a former FBI agent, he undertakes the killing of one activist and quickly realizes how repulsive he is to murder. He learns that his friend Justice and the FBI agent means of achieving justice through violence is not the answer (Alexie 56). He questions on how one can tell the difference between bad and good people when they all tell the same things. Further transportation and experiences in the bodies of a mute Indian boy, an Indian tracker named Gus, Jimmy a pilot, Abbad a terrorist, and eventually his own body enable him to learn and witness more violence, and the impact they have. His view of the violence taking place in his time travel reveal just how violence affects the people around him. he observes that his life of violence is wrong and he has to change something in his life. When he goes back to his own self from the time travel, he decides against robbing the bank and himself over to Officer Dave, who offers him a family, home, and a chance to embrace a new life. Teen violence has become quite a phenomenon in contemporary America. The violence afflicting Zits in the novel can draw a parallel to the current situation in America. The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Centre offers startling statistics in regards to this phenomenon (Teen Help). It reports that in 2000, an estimated 1561 teenagers under the age of 18 got arrested for homicide (Teen Help). In the same year, 9% of the murders in the US got committed by individuals under the age of 18 (Teen Help). Further, 1 in 10 teenagers has been involved in a violent activity that may have resulted in the death or serious injury of another person (Teen Help). According to Ofer Zur, the major issues facing teens include teen violence, school shootings, internet addiction, bullying, cyber bullying, TV violence and teen suicide. Ofer attributes the issue of teen violence as being influenced by sexism, militarism, violence within the culture, and racism. As a young Native American boy, Zits’s violent nature can be attributed to the racism he witnesses in his time travel. He has had personal horrible experiences with white people. In his time travel, he also witnesses the historical experience underwent by Native Americans with white people (Bergland & Roush 229). His violence emanates from the hate he holds for the elite in his country, the foster system trying to be forced upon him, and the men who have abused him. He also hates his father whom he feels abandoned him. The causes of his violent nature bare similar resemblance to the causes that contribute to teen violence in the US. Zits violent life and his realization of what impact violence can have on the individual and community can be paralleled to the impact of teen violence in the US society. Teen Violence can have a major impact on both the individual and community at large. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention- CDC, reports that 6% of high school students reported not going to school in one or more days because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to and from school. CDC also reports that an estimated 700,000 youth aged between 10 and 24 years get treated in emergency departments yearly for injuries attributed to violence related assaults (CDC). The Center also reports that an approximate of 16 persons aged between 10 and 24 years are murdered daily in the US (CDC). On top of causing death and injury, teen violence also affects communities through reduced productivity, increased cost of healthcare, and disrupting social services (CDC). The realization of the impact of teen violence is necessary for reducing the possible effects it can have on the self and community at large. Just as Zits is able to reach his self-realization, so too does America need to wake up and reach this self-realization. There is a need for the concerned institutions within the country to wake up and smell the coffee and develop ways to mitigate the increasing teen violence witnessed across the country. The American society stands at a great loss if teen violence is allowed to persist. Teen violence contributes to the loss of lives, permanent injuries, destruction of property, and loss of the factors of production. When the proper institutions acknowledge the challenge that lay in teen violence, so will they be able to involve the right stakeholders and prevent this catastrophe. Teen education on violence should be undertaken by both parents and teachers at home and school. There is a need to introduce youths and children to diversity to make them develop empathy (Ofer). Youths should also be taught and demonstrated to on ways of peaceful conflict resolution. Children should also be disciplined through non-violent means. Teens learn from what surrounds and influences them. The faster the entire American society enables education on teen violence, so will the country avert the phenomenon. The novel ‘Flight’ challenges the contemporary American society’s view on gun culture. As witnessed in ‘Flight’, Zits introduction to guns by his friend Justice provides him with his first taste of power. His knowledge and acquisition of a gun provides him with his first taste of power. It makes him to develop an undeniable sense of bravado that he goes ahead to shoot and try to rob a bank. The novel challenges the American notion on gun culture. The mass killings committed in education institutions across the country are largely attributed to teenagers. The country needs to recheck its regulations on gun ownership (Francis). There is need to reassess the access to gun ownership in the country. The ability of teenagers in a similar mental frame to Zits or his friend Justice should not have easy access to gun ownership. Calamity and tragedy lay ahead if such teens get to commit their intended atrocities. The misuse of power through violent act is passed through and supported by culture. The US is regarded as one of the most violent cultures in the developed nations. Crimes getting committed through violent force and with guns are quite high in the country. Teens in the country have absorbed the culture as witnessed by statistics on teen violence in the country. Sherman Alexie’s novel ‘Flight’ assists to challenge the views held by contemporary american society on teen violence and gun culture. The novel’s protagonist, Zits, Witnesses the negative effects of violence and the impact is possesses on those around him. His self-realization allows him to reconcile with his peaceful self and embark on a path of peace. Realizing the impact of violence also allows him to trace his identity. The American society should also admit the negative impacts of teen violence and the regulations on gun ownership to reduce the negative effects posed by teen violence in the country. As an individual, I will dedicate my time towards educating children from inner cities on the dangers of teen violence. Political involvement through a petition to amend the gun laws in the country should also be encouraged. People should provide their signatures online and demand their local leaders to address the issue of gun laws. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. Flight. New York: Grove Press, 2007. The primary source for the work above, Sherman Alexies novel ‘flight’ focuses on a young native Indian boy name Zits who struggles to find his identity. The protagonist of the novel, Zits, life is scarred by racism, violence, hatred, anger, and search for self-identity. His struggle for self-identity causes him to turn to violence as his source of Justice. However, Zits undergoes a metamorphosis through time travel where he witnesses violence and its dire consequences. His acceptance of violence as anon-solution to justice enables him to find peace and self-realization. Francis, Diane. America’s gun-culture madness . 27 May 30. 9 December 2014 . Diane Francis reports on Americas gun-culture which she equates to madness. she offers some statistics on mass killings attributed to the countrys gun culture while also comparing it to those of Canada. She calls for America to look up to Canadas gun-ownership licensing and regulation procedures. The author tries to understand how Americas mass killings statistic vary greatly from those of Canada, which also allows anyone to own guns as similar to America. Help, Teen. Teen Violence Statistics. 9 December 2014. 9 December 2014 . This webpage by Teen Help provides interesting statistics on teen violence from a variety of reliable sources. It amalgamates statistics from different web sources to offer a multifaceted look at teen violence. It also provides the consequences of teen violence. Jeff Berglund, Jan Roush. Sherman Alexie: A Collection of Critical Essays. Utah: University of Utah Press, 2011. Berglund and Roush provide a literary criticism of Sherman Alexies works in print and on the big screen. The authors provide the prevalent themes in most of Alexies works. They regard Alexies as the most influential American Indian writer globally. Bergland and Roushs book is vital in understanding the themes represented in Alexie Shermans book flight. prevention, Center for Disease Control and. Youth Violence: Consequences. 27 December 2013. 9 December 2014 . The webpage by the Center for Disease control and prevention provides insight into the prevailing statistics on youth violence. The webpage further provides the different consequences and impacts of youth violence. Zur, Ofer. THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING TEENAGERS. 9 December 2014. 9 December 2014 . The webpage by Ofer Zur focuses on the major issues afflicting teenagers. the author cites cyber bullying, internet addiction, teen violence, bullying, school shootings, TV violence and teen suicide as the major issues. The author provides facts, treatments, responses, interventions, and preventions for each issue. The webpage focuses excellently on the issue of teen violence, its causes and impacts, and how it can be intervened. Read More