“Move. Get going. Blessed is he who leaves.”
Mobility and fluidity are a shared mindset amid the characters in the narratives and more so the narrator. Akin to the characters the narrator shuns immobility and reveres travel and always being on the move as the essence of life. She rejects the idea of immobility and the mundane everyday life as staying in motion fosters creativity. Mobility is both treated figuratively and literally basically through the physical movement of traveling and consequently mental fluidity. The characters are on a move for various reasons but each finds solace in it as they go through personal journeys.
“This is why tyrants of all stripes, infernal servants, have such deep-seated hatred for the nomads – this is why they persecute the Gypsies and the Jews”
Flights entails anecdotes of characters abandoning the idea of a steady and mundane lifestyle for the thrill of wandering or motion. The title is derived from a faction that believed the nomadic lifestyle spares the soul from the trappings of institutions and régimes. Consequently, the narrator references historical instances of a culture that has been ingrained in our civilization from the onset. The culture of a clash between the wanderers and establishments either through overt actions or unconscious conditioning. The characters seem to reject being tamed by a civilization that glorifies homogeneity and rigidity. Rather they embrace staying in motion to evade conformity that allows for establishments to have their influence over them.
“I wasn’t in a hurry. I never have to be in any particular place at any particular time. Let time watch me, not me it.”
The narratives explore the attitudes of travelers and their concept of time as the author incorporates fictional stories and historical references. In turn, delves into ancient times and the culture of nomads and traders and their manner of viewing time contrary to farmers. Essentially those inclined to immobility and cyclical routines see time as ‘circular’ as experiences tend to be repeated. However, for wanderers and travelers, each moment is unique from the next as their experiences are determined by unexpected occurrences and new sceneries. Therefore the assertion highlights the sense of time held by wanderers since their choices are not dictated by it.
