# The Flying Man explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by H. G. Wells. ## What happens An ethnologist interviews a lieutenant about a local legend of a flying man. The lieutenant recounts a military expedition during the Lushai campaign where his unit was ambushed and forced to retreat. Trapped on a cliff ledge, he improvised a parachute from a tent and jumped, surviving the fall and inadvertently creating the myth of a flying man among the local Chin people. ## Themes in this chapter ### War and Civilization The chapter depicts a colonial military expedition, ambush, and retreat, highlighting the brutality and absurdity of war. ### Artifice vs. Authenticity The lieutenant's improvised parachute jump creates a false legend of a flying man, contrasting the real event with the mythical story told by the locals. ## Character check-ins ### Hooker One of the Derbyshire men in the lieutenant's expedition; he shoots a Chin at long range. ### Winter Wedderburn Mentioned as 'Winter' in the camp where the lieutenant reported after his escape. ## Key lines > The Ethnologist looked at the bhimraj feather thoughtfully. 'They seemed loth to part with it,' he said. 'It is sacred to the Chiefs,' said the lieutenant; 'just as yellow silk, you know, is sacred to the Chinese Emperor.' The ethnologist examines a feather, noting the locals' reluctance to give it up. The lieutenant explains its sacred status among chiefs, comparing it to yellow silk's significance to the Chinese emperor. _Opens the chapter with cultural exchange and the lieutenant's casual explanation of local customs._ > I’m not a Xenophon to spin much of a yarn about my retreating army. The lieutenant admits he is not a great storyteller like Xenophon, downplaying his account of the retreat. _The lieutenant uses a classical reference to modestly frame his narrative._ > The thing filled with air like a sail, but at the edge I will confess I funked and pulled up. The improvised parachute inflated like a sail, but the lieutenant hesitated at the cliff edge and stopped. _Describes the moment of fear before the jump, showing the lieutenant's human vulnerability._ > You have heard what kind of a yarn the Chins made of it. Wings as long as a mule, eh?—And black feathers! The gay lieutenant bird! The lieutenant laughs at how the Chin people transformed his jump into a legend of a bird-like flying man with black wings. _Highlights the theme of artifice vs. authenticity, as the real event becomes a mythical story._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-flying-man - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters