As time has passed, Todd seems to want more acknowledgement for his achievements. He isn't fully appreciated by his white officers or by the child-like onlookers, like Jefferson. He was once one of the onlookers who gazed at the planes flying by, but unlike others, he was able to become a pilot. Todd feels embarrassed, he knows they don't admire him for the time and effort it has taken him to get there, but simply because it is something nice to look up at. He feels shamed that they are content with their life and he, the pilot who has gone out to better himself, is still considered to be their equal. He is so aware of his own community, the divisions and diversities found within them, that it angers him to know he can't do anything about it. Todd has realizes that regardless of his social status and achievements he will never be able to escape the struggles that oppress him.
Discussion question: Is Jefferson aware of Todd's strong feelings of shame and embarrassment? Has Todd acquired this perception of racial roles because he has become a pilot?
"He watched the old man, hearing him humming snatches of a tune as he admired the plane. He felt a furtive sense of resentment. Such old men often came to the field to watch the pilots with childish eyes. At first it had made him proud; they had been a meaningful part of a new experience. But soon he realized they did not understand his accomplishments and they came to shame and embarrass him, like the distasteful praise of an idiot" (Ellison 209).
ReplyDeleteTodd awakening from a near death plane crash that he alone was piloting came to an epiphany on the ground that changed his views on his own accomplishments. In the air Todd could see faces of the elderly black folk looking up at him in awe at what was taking place. To Todd he saw their admiration as a appreciation to the hard work and struggles he went to in getting there as a black man in an occupation with white officers. Todd sees his ability to be able to fly as a grant of wings that enables him to rise above what society has generally given to black men at that time. His plane's destruction metaphorically led to his awakening and the destruction of his past dreams that everyone was there in awe of what he had overcome. Todd reckoned that he was simply an icon of amusement to those who saw him and they saw nothing more. Todd thought of himself as better than others for what he had done but in reality he realized that he was still their equal just seeing the world through different eyes now and knew of the burdens that plagued many people that he had no control of.
Discussion Question- In a sense Todd could of said about himself that he was blind to the true realities of the world and what he had been doing. Do you think he would of prefered to be blind and proud of what he was doing or knowing and ashamed?