JONATHAN LIVINGSTONE SEAGULL: A LESSON IN COURAGE

“One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—…”

Knowing what you want to do with your life and beginning that journey to fulfil your destiny is a significant moment in an individual’s life. On reading the above lines from Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey, we can appreciate how difficult it is sometimes to follow one’s chosen path when people try to discourage you from doing so. Advice too is freely given but has to be taken sparingly and cautiously from the sometimes-but-not-always-well-meaning individuals who supply it, for not all are qualified to advise; most of it can be unhelpful and at its worst, it can be misleading and ultimately damaging. It takes courage to ignore the loud voices and listen to that one voice inside which tells you what you need to do, even if it is in contradiction to everything people around you are saying.

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach is a short novel about flying and demonstrates how a unique seagull believes in his destiny and chooses courage over conformity to achieve success in spite of the loud voices that attempt to deter him from following his path. The eponymous seagull wishes to learn everything about flying, a wish that separates him from the flock of which he is a part:

“More than anything else, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull loved to fly. This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds.”

While Jonathan seeks to perfect flying, the other seagulls are concerned only with the daily struggle for sustenance. His parents try to teach him the practical approach because Jonathan can’t fit in with the flock:

“Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross?”

“This flying business is all very well, but you can’t eat a glide, you know. Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat.”

Jonathan then follows his parents’ advice and tries to adapt, to fit in, but he fails. He discovers, like others who have tried to be something they’re not, that he couldn’t make it work, he wasn’t happy behaving like other gulls. Jonathan Seagull then continues his solo flying lessons and experiments, eventually incurring the wrath of the Flock Council because of his divergent behaviour. He is cast out, banished to live a solitary life. Through hard work and discipline, he continues learning about flight, his only regret being that the other gulls refused to learn the same. Eventually Jonathan finds his true flock:

“The dozen gulls by the shoreline came to meet him, none saying a word. He felt only that he was welcome and that this was home.”

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’s wish to learn more about flight can be seen as a metaphor for the pursuit of one’s dreams or goals in life. Several success stories are told of great lives who thought differently and changed the world through their ideas, work and contributions. While this novella emphasises individualism and the spirit of innovation, it is also about community. Jonathan is happy when he finds other seagulls who are like him, who dedicate their life to flying and getting better at it. He feels a sense of belonging. The courage to be on his own and continue pursuing his goals in spite of being outcast led to true happiness. Once he has attained perfection in flying, he wishes to go back to his old Flock so that he can teach other sea gulls who also want to learn more about flight. In doing so, Jonathan displays the spirit of forgiveness and fraternity; despite being shamed and cast out by them, the seagull is willing to share what he has learnt with his former Flock.

A quote by inspirational author Alan Cohen sums up what can be learnt from Jonathan Livingstone Seagull: “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”

Sources

https://readalittlepoetry.com/2011/08/12/the-journey-by-mary-oliver/

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach (the first published version consisting of three parts)
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9162334-it-takes-a-lot-of-courage-to-release-the-familiar

Blossom D’Souza is a teacher from India. She has a Master's degree in English Literature. She enjoys reading, music, journalling and writing about literature and nature.