Quote from A River Runs Through It
"My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."
Q: Why does the father make trout as important as eternal salvation?
A: I think there is much more to the trout-as-important-as-eternal-salvation quote than there seems to be. MacLean talks very highly about trout, and I think he used trout as a metaphor for life.
Quote 1: Setting
"Below him was the multitudinous river, and, where the rock had parted it around him, big-grained vapor rose. The mini-molecules of water left in the wake of his line made momentary loops of gossamer, disappearing so rapidly in the rising big-grained vapor that they had to be retained in memory to be visualized as loops. The spray emanating from him was finer-grained still and enclosed him in a halo of himself. The halo of himself was always there and always disappearing, as if he were candlelight flickering about three inches from himself. The images of himself and his line kept disappearing into the rising vapors of the river, which continually circles to the tops of the cliffs where, after becoming a wreath in the wind, they became rays of the sun."
I think this quote catches the setting of the novel very well, and tells about how tough the river can be. I like this quote, since it tells us about Paul, and how big a passion fishing is for him. Even though he is under extreme conditions, nothing can stop him.
Quote 2: Character Relationship
"To my father, the highest commandment was to do whatever his sons wanted him to do, especially if it meant to go fishing."
This quote, I think, says a lot about the relationship between the father and his sons. The father loves his sons, and he sees them as the most important thing in life. He is also a big fishing enthusiast, and he loves more than anything going fishing with his sons. I see this quote as very important, since it really catches the essence of Paul, Norman, and their father's relationship.
Quote 3: Metaphor
"There, then, is a lot of line in front of the fisherman, but it takes about everything he has to get it high in the air and out over the water so that the fly and leader settle ahead of the line - the arm is a piston, the wrist is a revolver that uncocks, and even the body gets behind the punch."
I think the line is a metaphor for life. It takes a good effort to make it a good life, and it is not easy to do that. You have to work hard, and use everything you've got.
Quote 4: Essence of the Novel
"Paul was too young to swing an axe or pull a saw all day, and besides he had decided this early that he had two major purposes in life: to fish and not to work, at least not allow work to interfere with fishing. In his teens, then, he got a summer job as a lifeguard at the municipal swimming pool, so in the early days he could look over girls in bathing suits and date them up for the late evenings. . .Early, then, he had come close to realizing life's purposes, which did not conflict in his mind from those given in answer to the first question in the Westminster Catechism."
I think this quote is very important, and catches the essence of the novel. In the quote, it tells us about purposes in life, and how important it can be to have one. Paul found himself two, and he was a master at both. Sadly for him, it ended up getting him killed.
