In “Flight Patters”, it seems clear that William is a man who is used to the same old routine. Alexie sums up William’s character in one sentence when he writes, “Diagnostically speaking, William was an obsessive-compulsive workaholic who was afraid of pills,” (Alexie 103). This description of our main character provides a number of details about William’s personality, including the fact that he is an average, law-abiding American citizen who has been relatively successful in his professional life. In addition, he would never do anything to jeopardize his or his family’s safety. And like many Americans, he cannot deny the fear that lives inside of him after the events of 9/11, though he would never admit it openly. Alexie writes of William, “However, no matter how much he tried to laugh his fears away, William always scanned the airports and airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism,” (107).