Cyclical Circles

           Kandinsky’s abstract work of concentric circles perfectly captures the cycles of revenge highlighted in Alexie’s Flight. Death follows in the brutal wake of revenge. Throughout all his transformations, Zits becomes more enlightened about the importance of human life. He slowly begins to grasp the concept of revenge and comprehends the vicious cycle of murder and revenge. There are many parallels between the cycle explored in Flight and Kandinsky's art. 

          Every circle in the painting is different in its own unique way, as are the intricate never-ending revenge and death circles Zits discovers throughout the novel. His own cycle had to do with the death of his mother. Out for blood and under the false assumption that more casualties could bring his parents back, Zits shot up a bank full of innocent people. At first liberated, Zits in time regrets his decision as he experiences life as other men and witnesses their circles of death and revenge as his own. Kandinsky’s circles are similar in nature yet completely unrelated as are each of the cycles Zits lives through. 

            Circles have no clear beginning or end point. Whether a painting or murder for revenge, these circles are the same in their meaning. The circles continue to exist for all eternity unless an extreme effort is taken to break them. Circles are strong and difficult to break apart. It took everything in Zits’s power as Gus to destroy the lust for revenge in the elderly Indian hunter. Putting the thoughts of the old man aside and taking over control of his borrowed body, Zits was able to break the cycle and save a younger soldier and Indian boy. One circle in Kandinsky’s painting is blurred and almost unrecognizable. This circle correlates to Zits’s cycle as Gus. All the other circles remain unbroken and exist as if untouched in the painting and in the novel.