A River Runs Through It

The novella opens with Norman explaining the primary ethos of his family: fly fishing as a spiritual exercise. As Norman describes his childhood in the beautiful wilds of western Montana, he defines the spiritual philosophy imparted to him and his younger brother, Paul, by their father, Rev. Maclean, a Scottish-Canadian Presbyterian minister. Younger by three years, Paul achieves success in fly fishing that surpasses both Norman’s and their father’s. Rev. Maclean’s spirituality relies upon the oneness of nature with God’s grace. Accordingly, Norman and Paul associate grace with the act of fly fishing.

Norman begins working for the United States Forest Service when he is fifteen years old. In contrast, Paul begins gambling at a very young age, and by his early twenties, he is playing in all the big money poker games. He also begins drinking heavily. He works as a reporter for a local Montana newspaper in Helena. Both men consider themselves extremely tough and willing to fight if necessary. Both men believe in the value of getting in the first punch.

Norman describes the closeness of his family, the four of them forming an unbreakable unit. He explains that he got in one fight, and only one, with Paul. This fight frightened them both because their mother was injured when she tried to come between them. Each blamed the other for hurting her, and they never fought again. The brothers are very careful with each other, so that they do not come to a serious disagreement again.

In the summer of 1937, Norman visits Paul in Helena to ask him for a favor: to go fishing with him and with Neal, Jessie’s brother. Jessie is Norman’s wife. Everyone in Jessie’s family is worried about Neal because he has a severe drinking problem. Neal has written to his mother to ask Norman and Paul to go fishing with him when he is home in Montana on vacation. Because Norman and Paul are the pastor’s sons, Jessie’s mother believes that fishing with the two brothers will help Neal straighten out his life.

Paul only agrees to fish with Neal, whom both he and Norman dislike, out of his love for Jessie’s mother, Florence. The trip is arranged, and the brothers decide to go fishing the next day, just the two of them, on their favorite river, the Big Blackfoot. On the way, Paul tells Norman stories about his life, such as following a jack rabbit running next to his car and then driving into a tree. Paul’s stories are funny, but disturbing; Norman doesn’t know how he is supposed to react to these stories.

Paul demonstrates his superior fishing abilities in the Blackfoot’s challenging terrain—a canyon requiring a demanding casting technique that Norman cannot easily master. Paul gives Norman some casting advice, which helps Norman, though he pretends he doesn’t hear it. Norman figures out where the big fish are, and he goes for the big fish, describing in his inner monologue how he decides where to cast and how to land his fish. Once he catches his large fish, he sits down to watch Paul’s masterful technique.

Norman spends the night at Paul’s place before the fishing trip with Neal, and he gets a call at 2 a.m. from the police station. Norman goes to pick Paul up. Paul has been in a drunken brawl at a restaurant with a man who insulted his Native American date. He knocked out the man’s two front teeth, breaking a table and dishes in the process. He will probably be sued by both the man and the restaurant owner. The desk sergeant tells Norman that Paul has been getting picked up too often for drunkenness lately and that he is also in debt to the big-stakes poker game he plays in. The sergeant asks Norman to intervene and to try to talk some sense into Paul before he gets himself killed.

Norman admits that he doesn’t know what to do. He takes Paul and his girl home to Paul’s place and puts them to bed. Then he drives home to Wolf Creek, where he lives with his wife’s parents. He imagines that he will figure out a way to try to help his brother; the sunrise makes him hopeful.