Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Reviewed by : Dhaval Ghelashah (TG 13)

Summary:-
Johanathan Livingston Seagull is a story by Richard Bach which presents a personifed narration of a Seagull's life. Johnathan Seagull was different from its kind in most ways. His outlook towards life was different from being canonical and mundane. His esoteric ways of living had completely discomfited his clan which later made him an outcast. This is where the story starts to decipher, in a way, to make you connect with the life of Johanathan.



A day in Seagull's life starts with the quest to search for food and come back to shore. They would never jaunt around as flying for them was just a means to get their food. This marks the first point of distinction between Johnathan and his fellow seagulls. Unlike others, Johnathan had a keen allegiance towards flying which was strongly censured by his parents. They wanted their son to be like the rest and learn the strategy to get the food in difficult times. Taken over by his parent's coercion, Johnathan made an attempt to be like the rest. He got involved in the daily chores of flying around, looking for food. He finally gave up on his attempt to be someone who he is not and decided to dedicate his time to do something he enjoys. Flying was his passion and he spent hours trying to learn new aerobatics. However, things weren't as smooth as he thought. He met with several setbacks and soon realized his incompetency in flying. He began to retrograde and gave up his passion to fly out of failure to excel. He thought he wasn't meant for it. He resumed his life as a "just another seagull" and got involved in the routine activities. But soon a chord struck and he gave a second shot at pursuing his passion. This time he debunked all his previous tactics and took up flying again. After hours and hours of practise, he had outdone himself and he soon became the best among his clan who could perform aerobatics. Since this was not in accordance with the rules of seagull communuty, his act was considered to be insolent and he was barred from the clan. This didn't stop Johnathan and he continued to live the life of his dreams. Soon, young seagulls who had similar love for flying started taking notice of Johnathan and were impressed by his impeccable moves. Johnathan became the cynosure of many young seagulls who were inspired by him to take up something which was vilified by most of the Flock for years. He trained all the neophyte seagulls who realized their potential to fly and not be sullied by people who thought different. This led to a revolution in the seagull community. For years, the act of flying around for fun and not for food hunt was severly condemned and anyone crossing the line would be abandoned. Johnathan took a step ahead in pursuit of his passion and brought a change that many would have just dreamt of.

Thus, Richard Bach tries to put forward some great learning through the life of seagull. We too have reservations in trying to be different and pursuing our dreams. We are scared and indecisive when it comes to doing something different. However, we should not be complacent with what comes our way but take a step ahead to create the life of our dreams.