Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by author and pilot Richard Bach, is a fable and novella that was originally presented in serialized form in Flying magazine. Bach initially struggled to find a publisher for the full work, but when the book was finally published in 1970, it enjoyed immense popular success; according to Publisher’s Weekly, it was the top-selling book of both 1972 and 1973. Bach went on to also write Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah in 1977.

All page numbers in this study guide refer to the 1970 Scribner edition.

Plot Summary

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a young gull who struggles to fit in with his Flock; where the other birds are only concerned with finding food, Jonathan loves flying for its own sake. His attempts to fly faster and higher than his fellow gulls make him suspect, and his own parents pressure him to conform. After a particularly disastrous dive, Jonathan nearly resigns himself to the life of an ordinary seagull, only to have an epiphany: by flying on only his wing tips, Jonathan is successfully able to reach a speed of over 200 miles per hour. He returns to the Flock excited and eager to share his knowledge, but to his dismay, the Flock instead declares him an Outcast for his exploits.

Jonathan grows old alone, never ceasing in his efforts to teach himself more about flying. One night, he encounters a pair of luminous seagulls who tell him they have come to take him to his true Flock, which he is now ready to meet. Jonathan accompanies them up into the sky and to an entirely new realm he initially believes to be heaven. Over time, he learns that it is in fact simply a different plane of existence in which he can continue to learn and grow. To that end, he begins studying with an old gull named Chiang, who teaches him that true heaven and true perfection consist of an awareness of oneself as infinite. With Chiang’s help, Jonathan learns to travel instantaneously through space and time. However, before Chiang leaves for another world, he reminds Jonathan to “keep working” on the most important form of flight: love. Jonathan ultimately concludes that in order to do so, he must use the skills Chiang taught him to return to Earth and share his knowledge with his former Flock.

Back on Earth, Jonathan takes on several students who have been made Outcasts by the Flock, teaching them not only to fly more skillfully, but also to understand their true spiritual nature. The students struggle to understand the latter, and Jonathan ultimately decides that they must all return to the Flock and resume their lessons there. Jonathan and his students show off their skills, and slowly, members of the Flock begin to take notice and join in. When one gull with a bad wing manages to fly after speaking to Jonathan, rumors begin to spread that he is divine.

One day, while Jonathan’s most advanced student, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, is working with a group of newcomers, he is forced to swerve into a cliff. However, rather than dying, Fletcher manages to jump to a different plane of consciousness, and with Jonathan’s help, he is then able to return to Earth. The stunned Flock concludes that Jonathan brought Fletcher back from the dead and must be a devil, so they try to kill him. However, Jonathan and Fletcher are able to jump to a safe distance at the last minute. Here, Jonathan explains that it’s important to try to see and nurture the best in the Flock despite their actions. He then leaves to teach seagulls in other worlds, putting Fletcher in charge of preserving his legacy on Earth.