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In Dragonwings, the eponymous one-man airplane symbolizes how fulfilling individual ambition ultimately depends on community support. Early in the novel, narrator Moon Shadow learns that his father Windrider believes he was a dragon in a previous life and wants to prove himself worthy of becoming a dragon again. To earn back his “dragon-ness,” Windrider develops the ambition to design, build, and fly a one-man airplane. Though Windrider is secretive and touchy about this ambition, he is ultimately only able to fulfill it due to support from a wide cast of characters. For example, Moon Shadow writes to the historical Wright Brothers, Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912), pioneers of U.S. aviation, for advice in building planes—and receives letters and diagrams in return, which he shows to Windrider. Later, when Black Dog steals Windrider’s savings so that he cannot pay his rent or afford to tow Dragonwings to the site he had chosen for a test flight, Windrider’s friend and former landlady Miss Whitlaw alerts his friends and former coworkers Uncle Bright Star, Hand Clap, White Deer, and Lefty, who pay Windrider’s rent and bring him a wagon with which to tow Dragonwings up to the test-flight hilltop. Thus, while Windrider conceives of Dragonwings as his individual ambition and life project, the novel ultimately illustrates through Dragonwings that any individual ambition and project ultimately relies on community support to come to fruition.
Dragonwings Quotes in Dragonwings
The Dragonwings quotes below all refer to the symbol of Dragonwings. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 7 Quotes
“They also sent us some tables and diagrams . . .” I tried to show them to Father but he would not look at them. “Did I do wrong?” I asked.
“It’s just that . . . that it seems like begging,” Father said.
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Chapter 11 Quotes
I had found my mountain of gold, after all, and it had not been nuggets but people who had made it up: people like the Company and the Whitlaws. I had not realized until I had left it that I had been on the mountain of gold all that time.
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Chapter 12 Quotes
“I don’t know how they found out, but what does that matter? Your flying is as much theirs now as it is yours.”
Father stood for a moment with his hand on Miss Whitlaw’s elbow, but finally he grunted. “I guess it is.”
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“I realized that my family meant more to me than flying. It’s enough for me now to know that I can fly.”
“But what about becoming a dragon?”
“Ah, well, there’s more to being a dragon than just flying,” Father said. “Dragons have immense families, too.”
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Get the entire Dragonwings LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Dragonwings Symbol Timeline in Dragonwings
The timeline below shows where the symbol Dragonwings appears in Dragonwings. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...about the full-scale airplane that Windrider is building, which he and Moon Shadow privately call Dragonwings. The plane has a 20-foot frame with 40-foot wings, two propellers, and rudders for steering,...
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Windrider and Moon Shadow spend almost all their savings on a 12-horsepower engine for Dragonwings. In August 1909, they are ready to test-fly the plane—though they’re also “broke.” If the...
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In early September, Miss Whitlaw and Robin visit to help Windrider and Moon Shadow “christen” Dragonwings. Though Windrider still hasn’t told them about his dragon dream—and Robin comments that it’s a...
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...asks Black Dog not to hurt Moon Shadow. Black Dog asks whether the “demon contraption” (Dragonwings) is more important to Windrider than Moon Shadow is. Windrider says no and agrees to...
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...but also the money they had planned to use to hire a wagon to bring Dragonwings up a hill for its test flight. Windrider tells Moon Shadow that he’ll report Black...
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Chapter 12
...misfortunes to the Company when Uncle says they’ve already heard—and they’ve come to help carry Dragonwings up the hill for its test flight. When a baffled Moon Shadow points out that...
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...knew what he owed or where to find his landlord, Uncle changes the subject to Dragonwings, whose workings Windrider enthusiastically explains to the Company. Then the Company drags Dragonwings onto their...
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The group unties Dragonwings from the wagon and rolls it to a spot about 30 feet from the hill’s...
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...bolt in the plane snaps and a propeller comes flying off. Windrider tries to right Dragonwings but ends up crashing into the hillside. Moon Shadow sprints for the wreckage, the others...
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...runs to fetch a doctor, the rest of the group builds a stretcher out of Dragonwings’s smashed parts, puts Windrider on it, puts it on the wagon, and drives him back...
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Windrider wakes up groaning. Moon Shadow brings him some tea, explains that Dragonwings was wrecked, and says they’ll have to build a new airplane. To Moon Shadow’s surprise,...
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...disappointing son Black Dog, and so he tried to control Windrider until Windrider’s quasi-success with Dragonwings made him realize he didn’t have all the answers.
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...take turns riding the ferry across the bay to visit each other. The summer after Dragonwings’s flight, Windrider finally has his paperwork to go escort Moon Shadow’s mother from China to...
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