Falling?

Falling?

This is a picture that I found on a site that offers free clip art. I suppose it's intended to illustrate the hubris of "modern" (Victorian) technology. It reminded me, though, of the story of Icarus, the mythological Greek fellow whose artificial wings melted when he flew too close to the sun, so that he fell into the sea.

But is this man really falling -- or soaring? I assumed he was falling, since I know that such a contraption could never work, but now I wonder if that is what the pre-Wright Brothers illustrator had in mind. Is the expression on the man's face one of terror or wonder? Are his arms and legs splayed to brace for a fall, or is he flying like a bird?

He looks weightless. Could he be suspended in that terrible moment when we don't know whether the risks we take are going to work out or not?

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." –Douglas Adams