River Runs Through It Norman Quotes

From the beginning of the novel, A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean stresses the importance of his family. Their love for nature, God, and each other forever holds them together: Through thick and thin, Norman always comes back to his family for help and comfort. He develops a need to help his brother, Paul, out of trouble and will do anything to make his wife and mother-in-law pleased. In the instance of great loss in the Maclean family, Norman seeks his father’s words of wisdom to pull him through the hard time. A River Runs Through It uses family to let go of their anxieties. In this situation, Norman has a pronounced distaste for his brother-in-law, Neal, but he’s forced to spend time with him by his wife, Jessie, and mother-in-law, Florence. If anyone else had asked Paul and Norman to go fishing with Neal, immediately the answer would be no. The brothers, however, are asked by Florence, who they respect very much. The thought of disappointing her drives Norman up the wall, especially when Neal gets sun burnt from head …show more content…
For Paul, this hobby develops into his way of escaping his problems, but it doesn’t make them disappear. He tends to make harmful decisions to his health and safety; an example is when he drives drunk and wrecks his car. Trying to cover up his mistakes, he blames it on chasing a jackrabbit. Even with his dishonorable choices, his parents and brother never turn their backs on him. Norman strives to find a way to help his brother, but usually comes up dry. This is due to the fact that Paul believes he doesn’t need help and avoids the topic of it. In response to the false stories, Norman says, “It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.” He means that Paul is using an alternate reality to mentally avoid his problems. Norman wants to break through to him, so he takes him fishing one last time to reconnect with each