Cycle of RevengeGandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." What Gandhi meant was that taking revenge will create a destructive cycle. In Sherman Alexie's Flight, he shows the vicious cycle in action. In the story there is a boy named Zits who discovers the true meaning of revenge by apparently being killed and then incarnating into people on both sides of the Indian War. His recurring theme on revenge is that revenge becomes an endless cycle, there are those who seek to continue the cycle and those who wish to end the cycle. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Revenge becomes a cycle when someone harms a person and he or she seeks to harm anyone associated with that someone. When Zits incarnates as an Indian child, he wakes up in the middle of an Indian camp. He soon meets his father and then realizes that his throat was slit by an American soldier. When the camp is attacked by Custer's cavalry, the tribe successfully repels them. Then he is given the opportunity to slit the throat of a young white soldier. At first he is confused, but then “[he] remember[s]: a white soldier cut his throat… and now my father wants revenge. He wants me to want revenge” (Alexie 75). Everyone around Zits also wants him to take revenge, but he realizes that if he takes revenge on this soldier, the soldier's family and friends will have the right to take revenge on the Indians too. Zits realizes that the cycle will continue until both sides take revenge on each other. This shows that the cycle of revenge will continue until someone on one side steps up and stops the endless cycle. The cycle of revenge continues when a group of people kill someone's family and want to kill anyone associated with that person. Zits is now incarnated in an old white Indian tracker named Gus. Zits quickly realizes where this will lead and tries to avoid it, but Gus's will is too strong. When he instinctively leads the soldiers up a hill overlooking the Indian camp, Gus has a flashback and sees the "massacred white settlers... the body of a little girl... lying the naked body of a woman... always holding out their hand to this little girl" (87). This is the flashback Zits sees when he is on the ridge above the Indian camp. Zits feels the pain and anger that Gus feels and rushes into the camp. They mercilessly kill innocent Indian children and women. These soldiers believe they are taking justice for those massacred in the city, but they are simply continuing the cycle. You can also stop the cycle or take revenge. During the battle Zits sees a young white soldier, whom he nicknames "Little Saint", chase and pick up an Indian boy and run away into the forest. Zits quickly mounts his horse, picks them up and helps them escape and how he wants to "escape that monstrous vengeance" (97). Zits classifies revenge as a monster, which shows that revenge can lead someone innocent to become a “monster”. Zits falls from his horse and injures himself. The Little Saint tries to convince him to continue. Zits finally asks the boy why he did it, and Small Saint replies, "I joined the army to defend the people, and that's what I'm doing right now." The little Saint, young as he is, understands that revenge will become a cycle that will kill many innocent people for the actions of their people. He tries to stop the pace and do what he thinks is right. When you want revenge for a group of people who hurt your family, you want to kill them, but there are those who try to stop the vicious cycle. Revenge can be sought for many things, but the cycle can be.