Journey in the night
The writer spends a proportion of time explaining the perks of the business elite seat to create a vivid image of the experience that those who pay for the business class get and to show us what he is missing by allowing the polish man to sit next to him
He was amused at how people are always prepared to spend much even when the returns are small just to feel that they are given better treatment than others. He sends a clear image of the encounter and shows how people are easily pleased even when they get way less value of their money like his case where what he can only show is warm nuts and an extra sundae worth 13 cents
The writer was not really sad, and it could be because he had never experienced it before, and therefore, he did not understand what death meant. The writer cried for the show so that he is not left out of his friend’s public display of grief and so that he could fit in the crowd that was grieving
The writer means that his mode of grieving is something that could be compared to the acted scenes in television programs. He felt genuine grief when his friend died, but he is still tempted to create a scenario of it to show people that he really suffered from the loss of his friend. By saying that “I had learned to grief by watching the tv?” he shows that he mourned to capture people’s attention
The attitude of the writer towards the seatmate can be deciphered as follows: in the beginning, he sympathizes with the seatmate since he understands what he felt recalling how his own mother died. He shows respect to the man by allowing him to sit next to him and resents to watch his usual in-flight movie to give the man time to fall asleep. His empathy, however, does not last for long and is replaced by resentment when the man continues to cry, and he wonders if he is doing it for show or out of guilt for having abandoned his mother.
The writer is crying in the end either from the nostalgia of his happy moments with his siblings when they were kids or from the memory of having an abusive father who buttered their heads with serving spoon till they bled
Several themes, such as internal conflict and grief, stand out in this narrative. Internal conflict is highlighted by the way the writer is conflicted about different things he talks about like he is not sure how to treat the grieving man, or the favor those seated in front of him are getting. The writer though the grieving man seated next to him introduces the theme of grief since through him, he is able to tell us about the deaths he experienced and how he reacted to them.
The concept of death changes with time since one gets to understand what it feels to lose someone close to them and learn the true meaning of death, therefore, accepting it as part of human nature.