Quote 1 - "And though I knew that he was a good man, and wouldn't hurt me, I was frightened again."
Richard, the protagonist, is an increasingly curious fellow. He does not like to accept things upon first encounter and is very analytical about everything that happens around him. This is especially true when he is thinking about Don Shimoda, who has now confessed to being the Messiah. Richard, while accepting of the fact the Don is indeed the "saviour", is wary of his power but still wants to stay by him. He is continually drawn to Don. He speaks several times of wanting to leave him, but he feels he cannot. He must follow Don and see what he does. What this says about the work as a whole, is a commentary on a Messiah and their followers. Those who follow Jesus know of his almighty power, but believe that he will only do good with it. One could argue that this book is about self realization. Possibly, the reader is their own Messiah, and what they do in their lives with their own power, should only be good for the benefit of themselves and others.
Quote 2 - "The last I saw of Donald Shimoda, he was sitting on the rim of his cockpit, and the mob had him surrounded."
Before this quote takes place, Don effortlessly flies his plane over a "mob" of people in awe of the flight. This is the point in the work when Don accepts the work of a Messiah once more, and allows the people to flock to him as though he truly is Jesus. Richard very articulately describes Don's godly and unrealistic flying abilities in a near jealous way. He seems to be reluctant to accept that Don could be a better pilot than him, especially considering he has power to do so. Richard appears to become increasingly jealous towards Don, and at this end of the chapter, Richard gets into his own plane and flies away to an isolated area. Due to the fact that an element of jealously comes from Richard a lot in the book, one can presume that the writer is trying to portray someone who is just like the reader. Everyone becomes jealous of others for different reasons, it is human nature. However, is it really worth the time being jealous? Don is simply using his abilities for his own pleasure. Richard who has described himself as a "gypsy flier", does not often come in contact with other pilots. This means that when he does finally find a friend in someone, he feels as though he can never be good enough, or be like Don. This is why he flies away. What these tells the reader is that while we may gravitate towards these jealous responses, we must resist, accept, and be our own selves.
License Plate
777 GYPR
I chose this combination because the numbers "777" are regarded as a perfect representation of the "Trinity" in many religions. I also chose "GYPR", referring to the description "GYPsy flier", by "R", Richard, the protagonist. I feel that Richard is like a gypsy, constantly on the move, nomadic and never settled. He seems to also be this way in his spiritual path. This is why I feel this combination of numbers and letters is a representation of Richard.
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