River Runs Through It Sparknotes

The movie A River Runs Through It directed by Robert Redford is about a family with two brothers named Paul and Norman. The movie captures Paul and Norman’s very different lives as they get older. Although Paul and Norman grew up in the same house and were raised by the same parents, as they get older their differences begin to show immensely through times such as when Norman went off to university and Paul stayed in Montana, when the viewer is introduced to Paul’s bubbly personality and Norman’s quieter personality, and when the viewer finds out that Paul has a drinking and gambling problem and Norman does not. At the beginning of the movie the viewer sees the brothers at a very young age. The beginning gives the viewer a brief summary of …show more content…
He keeps his old habits up by going fly fishing and fighting to show how tough he is just as he did as a little boy. Paul gets a job as a newspaper writer. Being in the newspaper industry created a different lifestyle for Paul. Instead of attending church every Sunday he was off doing other things that may or may not be for his job. Paul develops habits that would not be tolerated from his father such as smoking, drinking, and gambling. He also tends to find an infatuation with women but yet not looking to settle down. He develops habits of a young adult man that eventually carry him away to his demise. Paul does not look to further his education and he quite enjoys living near the town in which he grew up in. Unlike Norman who wanted to expand his …show more content…
During this time his personality is shown more in depth. At one point in the movie Norman goes to a dance. At the beginning of the dance Norman stands to the side and watches everyone. This shows that he has a more reserved personality and that he is not very social. Eventually he finds a girl to talk to but it is clearly shown that he does not have very good communication skills. To his luck the girl still dances with him and eventually she becomes his wife.
The viewer is introduced to Paul’s bubbly personality when Norman goes to visit him at his work. The scene starts with Paul cracking jokes with his co workers which captures his bubbly personality very well. As the movie progresses the viewer is shown more examples such as when Paul easily brings his first nations girlfriend to a club. He brings his girlfriend onto the dancefloor and they dance all night. They also continue to laugh and joke because Paul is easy to have a good time with. Paul is louder and more easy going than Norman. Paul’s bubbliness and carefree personality also gets him into