The Sky People

In "The Sky People," as Madeline pointed out, the land does not exactly come up as a character. Rather, the story is indicative of a world that could be if we continue to treat the land as we currently do. Literary analyzation is not my strongest suit, but here is my stab at it. I think that Point Hope is supposed to represent a sort of utopian environment that has not been degraded, as earth has been. It is a world in which people share their livelihood. This world's people are generous and bountiful. The "sky people" of the story are supposed to represent the dwindling earth race. Their desperation for food leads them to rely on this bountiful, responsible society of people. The compassion of the family in Point Hope gives a glimpse to a path of salvation, a path of hope in which the care of others can restore the earth and the human race.

I think the point of the story portraying the desperate people of planet earth as alien sky people is to point out the unnatural state that they have found themselves in. Massive resource depletion is most likely an unnatural disaster, as we are seeing on the earth today. The mindset of the people of Point Hope is much more down to earth (pun intended), which is why they are the people of the earth in the story.