Falling: A Novel

The plane, by itself, symbolizes a ship or vessel for which Bill is responsible, a gathering of souls under his care. Bill is a shepherd figure: it is his job to see these souls safely to their destination. The plane also represents his work and sense of responsibility, which the opening chapters of the novel indicate sometimes distract from his focus on his family. In this sense, the plane also represents a transition or shift in Bill’s mindset: over the course of the novel, his time on this particular plane reminds him of the importance of spending time with his family.

The hijacked plane, however, taps into the ambient anxiety of the post-9/11 United States surrounding terrorism executed by Middle Eastern perpetrators. Domestic extremists, largely members of white supremacist groups, are behind the majority of terrorist attacks in the United States (Steven Chermak, Matthew DeMichele, Jeff Gruenewald, Michael Jensen, Raven Lewis, Basia E. Lopez. “What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism.” National Institute of Justice, 4 Jan. 2024). Nonetheless, in the wider public mind, Islamophobia remains strong enough to cement an association of Middle Eastern faces with the term terrorism. In this