Flying Home (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ralph Ellison
- First Published: 1944
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: World War II
- Setting: Macon County, Alabama
- Principal Characters: Todd, Jefferson, Teddy, Dabney Graves
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Discrimination, Racism, South or Southerners, Prejudices or antipathies, World War II, Novelists, Accidents, Lynching, Pilots or pilotage
- Locales: Macon County, AL
The Story
Todd, a young black man, a candidate in Flight Training School in Macon County, Alabama, during World War II, is just returning to consciousness after an accident. The narrative soon reveals, in one of several flashbacks, that Todd's “exultation” in flight had carried him away. He had flown “too high and too fast”; the plane had entered a tailspin, and before he could react a buzzard had smashed into his windshield. Panic caused him to lose control. A crash landing has thrown him from the plane and has broken his ankle. Over him stand an old, black farmer,...
[The entire page is 2698 words long]
