Construction Of The Hero’s Identity In Flight From The Perspective Of Homi Bhabha’s Hybridity Theory

Flight, which consists of several interconnecting short stories, is a full-length novel written by American Indian writer Sherman Alexie(1966-). It focuses on how a self-depreciating Irish-Indian teenager struggles to construct his hybrid identity and integrate into hybrid society. Up to the present, domestic researches on the novel have mainly been done from the perspectives of racial issues, the Bildungsroman and Freud’s personality structure. This thesis approaches the novel by studying its half-Indian hero’s construction of hybrid identity on the basis of Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of hybridity.Hybridity, according to Homi K. Bhabha, as opposed to binary opposition,means the “in-between” state where multiple nations or races and their cultural values are negotiated. Hybrid identity, as the result of cultural negotiation, exists in the interstitial space of different cultures. In Flight, a homeless Irish-Indian adolescent named Zits suffers from identity crisis because of his being rejected both by Indian and white cultures. In the cultural interstice, he tries in vain to seek his identity and cultural negotiation by violence, and accidentally exposes himself to a fantastic journey.On the time-traveling journey, Zits gets to know the inner world of people from different races and ages by reliving himself in their bodies. The journey entering into different bodies makes Zits know who he really is and teaches him the importance of racial tolerance. Furthermore, it helps him accept his Indian origin and identify with the hybrid society. Finally, he succeeds in constructing his hybrid identity.This thesis consists of five parts in addition to the Introduction and Conclusion.The Introduction makes a sketch of Sherman Alexie’s life, his literary achievements and his novel Flight. It also reviews the domestic as well as overseas researches relevant to the author and the novel, thus revealing the significance of the thesis.Chapter One outlines the theoretical basis of Homi Bhabha’s hybridity and themain contents of his hybridity theory.Chapter Two analyses Zits’ identity crisis in the struggling between the interstitial space of the two cultures. By analyzing the protagonist’s unhappy childhood and his conflicts with the foster families, it further reveals the underlying reasons for Zits’ identity crisis.Chapter Three deals with Zits’ futile attempts to seek his identity by violence,which contributes to his growth and maturity in a indirect way. Zits intends to perform the violence of shooting in hope of taking revenge on the white and seeking his identity. As a result, his effort to pursue racial identity turns out to be in vain.However, the shooting does teach him a lesson and makes him step on a fantastic journey.Chapter Four focuses on Zits’ construction of hybrid identity in his fantastic journey. During the journey, he enters the bodies of the white who are respectively an FBI agent, an elder Indian tracker and a pilot. He also inhabits the bodies of the Indians who are respectively the mute Indian child and his own Indian father. The five times of entering different bodies enlighten him to think about history and life by putting himself in others’ shoes. He learns that hostility hurts both the Indians and the white; understanding and respect brings about harmony. Zits finally decides to reject all sorts of retribution and seek his self-identity from forgiveness.Chapter Five explores Zits’ construction of hybrid identity in the realistic surroundings. Renouncing the negative mood of alienation and removing the mask of violence, he finally rediscovers himself and reconstructs his self-identity.The final part summarizes the previous chapters, drawing such a conclusion:Living in the mixed and multi-cultural society, it is inadvisable for the people concerned to take the attitudes of rigidly adhering to their native culture or aggressively catering to the mainstream. The hybrid identity, which keeps a balance between the native traditions and the flexibility of the non-native ones, is the inevitable requirement of the pluralistic society. Zits’ hybrid identity, characterized by keeping a balance between his native Indian culture and the white-dominant one,offers a way out for the existence and further development of the marginalized cultures.