A River Runs Through It
Norman Mclean's A River Runs Through It explores many feelings and experiences of one "turn of the century" family in Missoula, Montana. In the original work of fiction, i followed the Mcleans through their joys and sorrows. However, the names of the characters and places are not purely coincidental. These are the same people and places known by Norman Mclean as he was growing up. In a sense, A River Runs Through It is Mclean's autobiography. Although these autobiographical influences are evident throughout the course of the story, they have deeper meanings in the later life of the author as he deals with his life's hardships.The characters in the movie and book are taken straight from Mclean's life. From the hard working, soft centered, minister father, to the drunken, "down on his luck", brother-in-law, Neil. The character of Paul appears the be the most true to life member of Norman's family. The audience quickly becomes familiar with Paul and his quick-tempered, always-ready-for-anything attitude. This is evident in the beginning of the story with Paul's frequent phrase "...with a bet on that to make things interesting ".Unlike Norman who was home schooled every morning, while Paul seemed to escape this torment. The boys wo
------------------------------------------------------------------------ im in the 10th grade and i got a 94% on this book report. i aint tellin peeps bout me so imma leave the rest of this blank now kay. chill peeps. There are other issues that writing of a different death for his brother helps Norman over come. Norman Mclean was by no means a settled man. He was known to drink stiff drinks at parties and after his retirement, spoke of his neglect as a parent. "Norman, like his father before him, was notorious for deflecting personal discussions, although after he had retired from teaching he was surprisingly open about his parental disappointments. 'It's a real sorrow of mine. I feel that I never picked up my children at the age when I should have....." The illness of his wife was severely disheartening because her death took almost ten years. She suffered from emphysema but continued to smoke up until shortly before her death. This time was extremely hard for the Mcleans, "...Jessie's illness seemed to have stretched on forever, spreading a pall over the family for years." When he finally did receive news of his beloved wife's death, Norman was in the hospital battling one of his bouts o! uld spend their afternoons frolicking in the woods and fishing the Big Blackfoot River. The differences that developed between Paul's and Norman's fishing styles become evident in the published versions of Mclean's life as well as his real life. Norman followed the traditional style taught by their preacher-father, ten and two in a four-count rhythm. "The four-count rhythm, of course, is functional. The one count takes the line, leader, and fly off the water; the two count tosses them seemingly straight into the sky; the three count was my father's way of saying that at the top the leader and fly have to be given a little beat of time to get behind the line as it is starting forward; the four count means put on the power and throw the line into the rod until you reach ten o'clock-then check-cast, let the fly and leader get ahead of th
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Approximate Word count = 1377
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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