In his short story "Flight", John Steinbeck uses the dark watchers not to advance the plot, but rather as symbols of everyone's eventual death. Steinbeck's major theme in this work is the journey of a boy becoming a man. To become a man, one must learn to accept death as a part of life, and gain the courage not to flee from it. Through his references to the dark watchers, Steinbeck reveals the attitudes of both Mama and Pepe toward death. The dark watchers are mentioned in several places throughout the story: during a conversation between Momma and Pepe, at the beginning of Pepe's journey, and perhaps when Pepe dies.

The first reference to the dark watchers occurs in a conversation between Pepe and Mama shortly before Pepe begins his journey. Mama warns him "if thou seest any of the dark watching men, go not near to them nor try to speak them. And forget not thy prayers."(p. ) This quotation shows Mama's attitude of how Pepe should live out the remainder of his life. She cares not for manhood or responsibility, but for her son's physical well being. She sees no reason for Pepe to sacrifice his life, and the boy Pepe follows her advice.

The first time Pepe sees the watchers, it is near the beginning of his journey. He is looking forward, to the ridges which are his destination. He spots a dark watcher atop a "white barren spur"(p. ) but quickly looks away. Pepe is not yet ready to accept manhood and death. He thinks it is "better to ignore them and never show interest in them. They did not bother one who stayed on the trail and minded his own business."(p. ) As a boy, Pepe is not ready to accept death or responsibility, and simply follows the path set for him by his mother. What Pepe does not realize is that he departed from the safe path of boyhood when he killed a man. His death awaits upon the same "white barren spur" as the dark watcher now stands. His only choice will be whether to die as a boy or a man.

In the paragraph succeeding the previous reference, Steinbeck alludes to the dark watchers again. After spotting the dark watcher on the ridge in front of him Pepe looks back the way he came. "When he arrived at the little pass he stopped and looked back for a long time. No dark watchers were seen now."(p. ) Pepe is looking back to his childhood, for the idea of being a man is no longer as romantic as it once was. However, manhood involves irrevocable choices and when Pepe chose to kill the man, he lost his childhood forever.

Some would argue that Pepe dies at the hands of the dark watchers. They may be right. The dark watchers represent Pepe's fear of death and responsibility. While he runs away from both his fear and the dark watchers, he stays alive, but remains a child. When he stands and accepts his responsibility on the mountain, he dies because of it. It would be fitting to have the dark watchers kill Pepe because of this parallelism.

However, debating whether the dark watchers killed Pepe is a moot argument. The dark watchers do not exist as true characters -- they posses no individual traits or motives. They are important only in their symbolic relationship to Pepe. They represent the responsibility Pepe fears to face. As such, when Pepe turns and accepts death, from whatever the source of origin, he conquers the dark watchers.