In his classic short story, "Flight," John Steinbeck uses many examples of symbolism to foreshadow the conclusion. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the ending of the story. Steinbeck uses colors, direction, and nature symbolism to help presage Pepé's tragic death. Let us now more closely examine the ways that Steinbeck uses colors to foreshadow the ending of …showed first 75 words of 902 total…

…showed last 75 words of 902 total…in the story to symbolize the direction that Pepé is heading; if he is heading towards good or evil. Nature, especially water, is another form of symbolism that Steinbeck utilizes. Water equals life. Therefore when Pepé moves further and further away from the river, he is actually moving closer to his death. Thus, it is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Pepé was destined to die right from the beginning of the story.