Flight I Am A Man
Flight I Am A ManBecoming a man could not always be pinned down to a certain age. A boy becomes a man when there arises a need. In Flight, Pepe is forced into manhood too soon.
When Pepe is sent to town by his mother to perform his first "labor", it does not seem like it is such a big thing to ask. Yes, Pepe is proud, because this is the first time Mama has ever given him any special responsibility. Mama tells him to go and get supplies they need. He is not to waste time or money on frivolities. Pepe tells Mama "I am a man", but his mother tells him, "Thou? A man? Thou art a peanut?" Pepe seems to realize that although his mother doesn't say it or show it, she is trusting him by allowing him to go and is proud of him. Pepe is allowed to ride in his father's saddle, put "the hat band on the hat... and wear the green hankerchief." Pepe leaves with his shoulders and back straight and a promise to return soon. Pepe nor Mama realizes how all their lives will change in the next few hours.
Pepe returns home deep in the early morning hours ofthe next day and he has gotten everything his mother asked for and more. He has entangled himself in trouble. His knife, which his dead father had given him and of which he was so proud, has killed a man in an accident. A man said names to Pepe that he could not allow, and before Pepe knew it, the knife "went almost by itself." Pepe is changed from boy to man with one slip of the wrist. Now Pepe must flee...
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