*Caution: Spoilers...? I think.*
In chapter 15, Foster elaborates on the effect of human flight in literature. He does leave out on category of character: characters that not only have wings, but are full-blown birds. Why would an author choose a bird as his main character? Or in the case of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, (What can I say? It's very symbolic and such.) why would the author choose a seagull, the most boring of birds?
I don't know much about seagulls, but from this novel, I learned that seagulls don't do much crazy, impressive flying. They just fly low in order to capture food. So, Jonathan Livingston's special flight isn't just a spurt of uneasy flying. His achievement consists of beautiful, majestic flight: high, fast, and dangerous. He uses it to metaphorically break free of the restrictions usually placed on low-flying seagulls and to literally break free of his binding bird clan when they exile him for being ridiculous.
Even when exiled, Jonathan Livingston continues to experiment with flight and the mental freedom he feels during it. This leads him to a fall from a great height to a rocky death. But then, Jonathan Livingston finds himself in a new dimension of higher existance where he can teleport. Each level of existance allows him to shed earthly boundaries and to experience greater freedom. Pretty trippy, right?
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