Jonathan Livingston Seagull Litterary Analysis Paper
... discovered that if he tucked his wings in he could fly faster! He was thrilled! As he was mastering this trick, he lost control and flew straight through the flock. That evening, Jonathan was called to the Center of Shame and was outcast by the Elder Gull. He was banished to the far cliffs to live alone. Of course, Jonathan practiced flying there. Soon, Jonathan became a very good flier and one day, two shining gulls came to him and told him they were taking him to a new place. Jonathan thought he was going to heaven. In the new place, Jonathan found gulls that were not unlike himself. They all loved flying and wanted to reach new levels of ability so he began to train with them. He met a gull there named Chiang who taught him about Ultimate Flight, the ability to teleport. He realized that few gulls care to excel at flying. Most of them believed that all they needed to do was eat and sleep, and they could be happy. He wanted more for his flock than this average life. He soon learned he must pursue perfection and live life moment to moment. Along with this, he learned that his life had a purpose. Chiang explained to Jon that heaven is a state of mind. The new place the two shining gulls had brought Jon to was not heaven. Chiang continued to say that heaven was reaching perfection. It was a place with no limits. Along with Ultimate Flight, Jon learned the ultimate lesson from Chiang; Love and Kindness. After a while Jon decided he wanted to return to his old flock to show them all the wonderful things he had learned. Another gull, Sullivan, told Jon that he didn’t understand what would make him want to return to his old flock. Jon explained that he felt he needed to forgive the flock and that there might be a gull there who is ready and willing to learn. Jon then met Fletcher, a younger outcast hull who was angry at his flock. Jon agreed to teach him about flight but told him that he needed to let go of his anger and focus on flying. Fletcher was willing to learn, but didn’t have much confidence, but Jon reassured him that he could do anything. Jon got six new students who were ready to learn about flight. He taught them about flight, but also tried to teach them the importance of love and kindness, just like Chiang had taught him. Jon then returned to his old flock with some of his students from the new place. In the history of seagulls, that had never happened before. The Elders forbid any gull to watch or even listen to Jon and his students, but Jon wanted the whole flock to see how amazing flight could be, so he conducted his lessons above the flock. Soon, the other gulls began to watch and listen, and others...