Genre
Short story
Setting and Context
The story takes place in Montana in the beginning of the 20th century.
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator of the story is Norman and his point of view is a first person subjective one.
Tone and Mood
Hopeful, tragic, depressing
Protagonist and Antagonist
There is not protagonist or antagonist in the story.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is an internal one as the characters are torn between their desire to listen to their father and the desire to follow their own path.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when Norman catches the big fish in the second part of the story.
Foreshadowing
Paul’s violent nature is foreshadowed by his apparent love for fighting.
Understatement
When Paul tells Norman that he had a ‘’little’’ car accident proves to be an understatement as Norman later finds out that Paul all but destroyed his car after drinking too much and crashing after failing to see a turn in the road.
Allusions
The author alludes that sometimes men oversimplify things and think that life is easy and everybody can do it in their own way and everything will be alright. He does however point out that just like someone has to have a certain technique when fly-fishing, people need to obey some rules and live by a moral code.
Imagery
In the second part of the story, Norman thinks about the fish he is about to catch and he imagines the fish as being almost human, wondering about the person who will catch him eventually and worrying about food and other necessary things in life. The way Norman humanizes the fish here is important because it hints that for those living in Montana, fishing is more than just a sport and fishes are more than just animals.
Paradox
Paul is presented as being a paradoxical character who is torn between his desire to obey his parents and his rebellious side. His rebellious side wins almost all the time and he becomes hard to control and prone to vices. This enrages his father who is a minister and who is supposed to lead by example.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
When the characters talk about fish, they usually refer to it in a metonymical sense to make reference to manliness.
Personification
In the second part, "The canyon was glorified by rhythms and colors."
