Flygirl

Ida’s favorite thing to do is fly, and often when she is feeling happy or excited, she compares the feeling to being up in the clouds. Ida was close to her father before he died and describes him as “a sunny day that could not be dimmed by clouds” (30). When Grandy finally grants Ida permission to go train in Texas but tells her that it’s not much to look at, she responds:“I’ll be looking at the clouds” (63), expressing how excited she is to become a WASP. As Ida prepares to fly at the army base for the first time, she feels “like a cool wind is blowing through [her]mind” (95). For Ida, being up in the sky is her favorite thing in the world, and when she is extremely happy, she compares her happiness to this feeling. Ida’s friend Patsy dies, and at the funeral, she watches Patsy being “lowered six feet into the ground[...] when the only place she ever wanted to be was in the sky” (189). Ida feels close to Patsy and knows Patsy loved to fly as much as she does. When she imagines happiness for Patsy, she imagines her in the sky.