Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It

A Hobby or a Way of Life

Religion and tradition are two ways that families come together. However in Norman Maclean’s novella, A River Runs Through It, the Maclean family’s devotion to their Presbyterian religion and their tradition of fly-fishing is what undeniably brought the family together. Under the father’s strict Presbyterian values, his sons, Norman and Paul used fly-fishing as the link that brought them closer together and helped them bond with their father on a different level. The family’s hobby of fly-fishing was started just for fun. It was a sport that was taken up every Sunday after church to take their minds off of the worries in life. After a while, going fly-fishing every Sunday turned into a tradition and soon a learning experience for the father and his two sons. The sport brought the men of the family together and it was an activity that gave them structure in their lives. It was used as a guideline as to how to handle different situations and how to let go of the worries of life for a day and just relax. It is clear to say that fishing has a big meaning to the member of the Maclean family, but fishing held a meaning to each person in that family.

Norman and Paul’s father was a minister who raised his sons under strong

Presbyterian values and believed that art was one-way man could clearly understand God and His creation. He advocated creativity because he thought that art was the guide man

used to communicate with God and to become a part of His wide universe. In short, it was not capability but mastery of art that helped man establish a direct link with the world around him and art was the person’s way of showing appreciation for God’s universe. This is why Reverend Maclean tells Norman ...

... middle of paper ...

...a life lesson. The military style of drum line is what has helped me improve in my schoolwork, my family life, and my friendships; I was trained to never give up even if success seems impossible.

In the Maclean family, fly-fishing was portrayed as the link that brought the father closer to his two sons. Not only did the family strongly believe in their Presbyterian values, but they believed that fly-fishing was an important way to release their frustrations and just relax together every Sunday after church. In Norman Maclean’s novella, A River Runs Through It, a sport that started out as a hobby transformed into a tradition that brought discipline and structure into a family that seemed as though they would never be able to get along. In everyone’s life there is one activity that brings him or her these same feelings and emotions, it is just up to them to find it.