John Steinbeck - Flight

Flight is a story about a 19 year old boy named Pepe. Pepe is a very lazy boy, yet gentle and affectionate. Pepe carried a knife that he kept sharp and free of rust and he carried with him always because it had been his fathers. Mama Torres sends Pepe to Monterey to get medicine and salt and then he is to stay at Mrs. Rodriguez’s house for the night. By sending him on this journey, it would make him a man.
Before morning, Pepe returned back home which startled his Mama. She asked him did he have the medicine and he said yes, but he then revealed to her that he had been drinking wine and had killed someone with his knife. Mama assures him that he is indeed a man and prepares him to get ready to go away. Mama awakens Pepe’s brother and sister for him to help. Mama helped him with supplies and a rifle with only 10 cartridges. The horse was saddled and sent him on his journey to escape the punishment he would receive if he was caught for murder. In a matter of a moment his life had just been changed forever.
Pepe followed a path and went over high mountains and down steep cliffs. During his travel, he constantly looked suspiciously back every minute or so. As a single eagle flew over, without warning, his horse fell on its side and then he heard the rifle crash echo and Pepe found himself laying half stunned beside his horse. Then he heard another shot, ran, and found cover. He shortly realized that he had been hit in the hand. He gathered a handful of spider web and pressed it into the cut and stopped the bleeding. As his journey continued, he began to have trouble with his hand and it got red and swollen. As the intensity grew, he eventually found himself loosing use of his hand and arm and the pain in his armpit was excruciating. The wound drew strength from his body as he looked at the black line that ran up from his wrist to his armpit. He picked up a sharp blade of stone and scraped the wound and squeezed the green juice out. The pain was heavy as he laid in a desolate, waterless canyon. He managed to dig out an area and fell asleep. After he awoke, he took his sleeve and soaked up the water and sucked it out. He tongue parched and swollen, he still managed to stand on his feet. He then heard a crash of a bullet and eventually he was hit and he rolled over and over and when his body stopped against a bush, an avalanche slid down and covered his head and he was dead.
He was slowly dying, but at the end he was quickly put out of his misery. Pepe’s life quickly changed in a moment after his mother sent him out for medicine and salt. Just because someone called him names, he chose to take that person’s life. He should have thought before he quickly chose to kill. He actually brought his misery on himself. How did someone so quickly go from being a gently affectionate person to a murderer? I enjoyed this story, but it seemed to have a lot of wasted time. Not much of the story was about the plot. There just seemed to be a lot of description about his surroundings without any real significance. As it ended, it just ended without any real destination being made. I almost felt like I was left hanging.