Air Quote by Michael Dorris
“My son will forever travel through a moonless night with only the roar of wind for company… A drowning man is not separated from the lust for air by a bridge of thought—he is one with it—and my son, conceived and grown in an ethanol bath, lives each day in the act of drowning. For him there is no shore.”
About This Quote
A child feels trapped in a bleak, suffocating existence, unable to find hope or escape.
In simple terms: Child feels trapped and hopeless.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and address emotional isolation.
Themes
despair
isolation
existential dread
family trauma
Mood
somber
reflective
melancholic
Type
literary
poetic
emotive
When to use this quote
- parental support
- mental health counseling
- creative expression
- community outreach
Key Concepts
existentialism
psychological distress
metaphor
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we support children in oppressive environments?
- What signs indicate a child feels drowned by circumstances?
A Different Perspective
The metaphor may overstate emotional intensity, risking melodrama.
![“I certainly don't object to [writers] trying to imagine the lives of other societies, but you have to do it with a certain amount of humility and respect. If it were not for the ethnographic material that had been collected by missionaries and anthropologists and so forth, much of past Native…” quote by Michael Dorris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f26/michael-dorris-29681_american-indian_i-certainly-don-t-object-to-writers-tryi_1784016.jpg)
![“Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]?... I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that... I’ve always…” quote by Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ac4/lawrence-summers-16940_air_just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-wo_4703.jpg)
![“[A]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air. And be careful what you swallow.” quote by Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/da8/dr-seuss-1224_advice_a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-f_6806.jpg)