Flight

1.
In “Flight” Doris Lessing brings us to an understanding of this pain, but not from the vantage point of the two young sweethearts, or even from that of the parents, but from the viewpoint of a senior, an elder, a grandfather – as he endures the heartache of a kind of bereavement
Of course, dovecote birds and carrier pigeons always come back – but that is no consolation to the old grandfather who knows that when his grand-daughter visits, it will never be the same. The carefree child will have become a dutiful and perhaps careworn wife
“Pretty, pretty, pretty…..” and smoothes the silken plumage of his favorite bird. He is happy for a moment, until he notices in the distance, his golden-haired grand-daughter who is swinging with free abandon on a gate. He knows she is waiting for her true love, the postman’s son
Annoyed, and perhaps feeling threatened, Grandfather deliberately traps his favorite dove when he senses its thrilling need to take flight. His dominance and control over the dove seems to offer only a momentary salve to his bruised feelings of rejection. After jailing the very thing he is supposed to love in a locked and bolted box, he goes across the red-earth fields to confront his grand-daughter

2.ESSAY 1

Doris Lessing’s "Flight" is a short story revolving around an old man and his learning of accepting in life. The author, however, does not let her readers know much about the old man, especially in the sphere of physical appearance. Even his name is not known to the readers. Doris Lessing, alternatively, aims to steer her readers to centre on the old man’s inner feelings, i.e. his weird mood and his consequent eccentric behaviors. A close and careful analysis is essential for us to somehow get a reasonable explanation about his eccentricities.

The old man keeps pigeons and considers the dovecote his refuge. These little birds are seemingly his only pleasure in life, for all of his three grand daughters have gone with their husbands,...