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Two Stories About Flying Ch6

This document provides biographical information and a list of literary works for Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty. It also summarizes the short story "His First Flight" by O'Flaherty. The story is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly for the first time despite seeing his younger siblings take flight. His parents punish him by leaving him hungry if he does not try to fly. Eventually his hunger compels him to take his first fearful flight, after which he overcomes his fear and celebrates with his family.

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61 views18 pages

Two Stories About Flying Ch6

This document provides biographical information and a list of literary works for Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty. It also summarizes the short story "His First Flight" by O'Flaherty. The story is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly for the first time despite seeing his younger siblings take flight. His parents punish him by leaving him hungry if he does not try to fly. Eventually his hunger compels him to take his first fearful flight, after which he overcomes his fear and celebrates with his family.

Uploaded by

Hari Hari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Born 28 August 1896 Inishmore, Ireland

Died 7 September 1984 (aged 88)


Literary Works (Novels) Thy Neighbour's Wife (1923),The Black Soul (1924), The
Informer (1925)
Literary Works (Short Stories) Spring Sowing, The Tent, The Mountain Tavern, Two
Lovely Beasts and Other Stories, Dúil
Theme
His First Flight: Introduction

The story by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is an account of a young bird that is afraid to fly for
the first time. He believes that his wings would not support him. Despite his younger
siblings flying fearlessly with much shorter wings, he could not gather the courage to
do the same. He was punished to stay hungry if he did not try. Thus, it was his mother
that compelled him to fly by using food as a trap. The lesson reflects how one
hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all in the mind. One should trust one’s
abilities because “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself”.
His First Flight: Summary

The story “His First Flight” by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is about a young seagull who is
afraid to fly. All his younger siblings despite their much shorter wings flew fearlessly
while he could not gather the courage to trust his own wings. The young seagull
became sad when he saw his parents perfecting his younger siblings in the art of
flying. His parents scold and taunt him for not even trying. They even call him a
“coward”. They tell him a lot to at least try and also threaten him to leave him alone
and hungry if he does not.
His First Flight: Summary

The following day, he is left in isolation and upon feeling hungry; he tries to seek the
attention of his family members. Finally, he took his first flight. All the family
members celebrate his victory by cheering and dancing around him. He also attempts
at floating in the sea that he was once afraid of. Thus, he overcomes his fear and
realizes that it is all in the mind.
Writing Style
Forsyth uses his background as a journalist to create
in his novels an atmosphere of “being there” for the
reader. His general style is also that of the journalist:
crisp, factual, and clear paragraphs that efficiently
convey information.
INTRODUCTION
The lesson “Black Aeroplane” by Frederick Forsyth reflects on how one’s judgement gets
distorted due to fantasizing and how it creates problems. In this chapter, the narrator is a pilot
who is so eager to meet his family and have a good breakfast that he takes the wrong decision
of facing the storm instead of doing the right thing. Miraculously, he somehow manages to
escape with the help of a mysterious aeroplane.

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