Marian Graves is the central figure in Great Circle. Her life is one of the two narratives, while the other is about Hadley Baxter’s attempts to make a film based on Marian’s attempt to fly across both the North and South Poles. As a character, Marian is inextricably linked to flight. Flying gives Marian the chance to escape, whether that is from the male-dominated society that restricts her opportunities, her abusive marriage, or the tragedies that plague her life. To Marian, flying is a way to seize back control from a world rife with sadness and confusion. When in command of a plane, Marian can exercise agency.

Flying allows Marian to defy Macqueen, society, and gravity, obliterating societal expectations and defining herself on her own terms. She becomes a successful female pilot in an age when men actively sabotaged women’s planes to keep them grounded. The importance of flight, to Marian, is such a potent metaphor that it turns her life into a legend, inspiring future generations, including Hadley. This importance of flight is such that, by giving up flight and choosing to live under a new identity in New Zealand, Marian makes a real sacrifice to be happy.