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104
Two Stories About Flying: His First Flight
Liam O’ Flaherty
Date 1
Shilpa Sharma
Contents:
Contents
1. Introduction
About the Author and the Story
2. Let’s Read
Line by line explanation of the story
Difficult words and their meanings
3. Analysis
Major themes
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
- Liam O’ Flaherty (28th August,1896- 7th September 1984)
- He was an Irish novelist and short-story writer born in Inishmore, Ireland.
- His speciality was his keen eye for a common man’s perspective of the world and his true representation of their experiences.
- Flaherty served as a soldier in the Irish army and later became a renowned o politician.
Liam O’ Flaherty (28th August,1896-
7th September 1984)
About the Story
- This is a story of a seagull that is unable to start flying because it is too afraid to take the dive.
- He is under extreme pressure from his parents and siblings who are all good at flying and skimming over the sea.
- The story is a lesson about overcoming fears and taking that first scary step.
THE young seagull was
alone on his ledge. His two
brothers and his sister had already
flown away the day before. He had been
afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had
taken a little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid.
The great expanse of sea stretched down beneath, and it was
such a long way down — miles down. He felt certain that his
wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away
back to the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.
Even when each of his brothers and his little sister, whose wings were far shorter than his own, ran to the brink, flapped their wings,
and flew away, he failed to muster up courage to take that plunge
which appeared to him so desperate.
Let's Read
His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly,
upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless
he flew away. But for the life of him he could not move.
That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had
come near him. The day before, all day long, he had
watched his parents flying about with his brothers and
sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching
them how to skim the waves and how to dive
for fish.
He had, in fact, seen his
older brother catch his first herring
and devour it, standing on a rock, while
his parents circled around raising a proud
cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him with his cowardice.
The sun was now ascending the sky, blazing on his ledge
that faced the south. He felt the heat because he had not
eaten since the previous nightfall. He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing, he closed one eye, then the other, and pretended to be falling asleep. Still they took no notice of him.
He saw his two brothers and his sister lying on the plateau
dozing with their heads sunk into their necks. His father
was preening the feathers on his white back. Only his
mother was looking at him. She was standing on a
little high hump on the plateau, her white breast
thrust forward.
Now and again, she tore
at a piece of fish that lay at her
feet and then scrapped each side of her
beak on the rock. The sight of the food
maddened him. How he loved to tear food that
way, scrapping his beak now and again to whet it.
“Ga, ga, ga,” he cried begging her to bring him some
food. “Gaw-col-ah,” she screamed back derisively. But
he kept calling plaintively, and after a minute or so he
uttered a joyful scream. His mother had picked up a piece
of the fish and was flying across to him with it. He leaned
out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet, trying to get
nearer to her as she flew across.
But when she was just opposite to him, she halted, her
wings motionless, the piece of fish in her beak almost
within reach of his beak. He waited a moment in
surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer,
and then, maddened by hunger, he dived at the
fish. With a loud scream he fell outwards and
downwards into space.
Then a monstrous terror
seized him and his heart stood
still. He could hear nothing. But it only
lasted a minute. The next moment he felt
his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed
against his breast feathers, then under his stomach,
and against his wings. He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air.
He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring
gradually downwards and outwards. He was no longer
afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then he flapped his wings
once and he soared upwards. “Ga, ga, ga, Ga, ga, ga,
Gaw-col-ah,” his mother swooped past him, her wings
making a loud noise. He answered her with another
scream. Then his father flew over him screaming. He
saw his two brothers and his sister flying around him
curveting and banking and soaring and diving.
Then he completely forgot that he had not always
been able to fly, and commended himself to
dive and soar and curve, shrieking shrilly.
He was near the sea
now, flying straight over it, facing
straight out over the ocean. He saw a
vast green sea beneath him, with little ridges
moving over it and he turned his beak sideways
and cawed amusedly.
His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on
this green flooring ahead of him. They were beckoning
to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on
the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with
fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But
he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise,
exhausted by the strange exercise.
His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly
touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on
it, and around him his family was screaming, praising
him and their beaks were offering him scraps of
dog-fish. He had made his first flight.
Major Themes
Analysis
• Courage
Courage is one of the most important traits that a creature must possess. One should be brave and face the adverse situations with courage. The only way to overcome a problem is to face it directly without trying to escape from it.
• Taking the First Step
The first step is often the hardest because our mind is busy thinking about the pros and cons. Sometimes it is best to just let go and dive straight in, in, to take that leap of faith.
• Faith
One needs to have faith in themselves. It is the biggest motivation one can get. If one lacks faith in oneself, nobody else can convince them to do something.
• Success and Failure
Success and failure are like two sides of the same coin. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but what is important is to try. Those who try might succeed but those who never try would always fail. It is therefore futile to keep thinking about failing because o one can’t control it.