“For most gulls it was not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.”
Jonathan’s main priority is transcending the mundane concerns of life and death. His journey can be considered a spiritual journey. Flight represents spiritual attainment. On the other hand, groveling around in the mud represents being preoccupied with material comforts or mundane concerns. Jonathan’s commitment to attain spiritual heights is quite stark. In giving up the quest for food, Jonathan affirms that life itself does not have intrinsic value if you spend all your time stuck in the mud. Rather, the only thing that gives life meaning is the pursuit of flight. Jonathan’s journey is similar to the human journey: many people are willing to risk discomfort or even death in order to create a life that has meaning for them. Jonathan’s elders shame him for trying to fly. They call the pursuit of flight “reckless irresponsibility” and say he will learn that “irresponsibility does not pay.” Though his peers and elders consider Jonathan a fool, he continues to relentlessly pursue his own vision of the meaningful life.
“You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”
Jonathan manages to scale the highest mountain visible. He uses his own resourcefulness, without the help of any of his friends. Instead, Jonathan relies on his own internal strengths: his will, his self-confidence, his powers of observation, and his curiosity. Finally he reaches the summit. The summit of the mountain is not the end of his journey. In a sense, reaching the summit proves to be only the beginning of the journey. Now it is time for Jonathan to learn the kinds of lessons that seem to defy physics and the laws of nature. To progress further, Jonathan has to give up the methods that have brought him this far. Though he has reached great heights and experienced things most gulls never imagined, there is still something holding him back. In order to reach true perfection, Jonathan has to completely release his preconceived notions of what he is. He has to give himself up. Having mastered the methods, Jonathan now has to learn to throw all his methods away.
“The trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that had a forty-two-inch wingspan and performance that could be plotted on a chart. The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time.”
According to Jonathan’s teacher Chiang, the realization of perfection is the same as releasing the ego. As long as Jonathan's sense of self is based on the limited confines of a body occupying a certain space and time, then it is impossible for him to achieve true freedom, or perfection. At this point in his journey, Jonathan’s technique is perfect. It is his mindset that has to change. Jonathan must break himself wide open in order to achieve perfection. Jonathan’s journey is one of releasing his ego-centric perspective and embracing a bigger sense of self that encompasses all of space and time.
“The shimmering stopped. Jonathan Seagull had vanished into empty air. After a time, Fletcher Gull dragged himself into the sky and faced a brand-new group of students, eager for their first lesson.”
When Jonathan’s journey is complete, he disappears. This disappearance could be interpreted as death, transcending the physical realm, or dispersing consciousness throughout the universe. What’s important is what Jonathan left behind. He left behind Fletcher, who at this point is a master in his own right. Although Jonathan is gone from the physical plane, something of him remains. This is evidenced by the fact that Fletcher has a brief conversation with Jonathan after his disappearance. The role of the master is to bring others through the journey. There is always a master waiting, when the student is ready to learn.
