Two Stories About Flying Part-1 His First Flight

1.0About the Author

Liam O'Flaherty 1896-1984

Liam O'Flaherty was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their perspective.

Central Idea

The story 'His First Flight' revolves around the idea that one should bravely face their fears and never give up.

The baby seagull is left on a ledge by his mother who sees that he is too frightened to fly and get food. Eventually, hunger forces the seagull to find his wings and leave the ledge. The mother won't help the baby as she knows he needs to work out how to live by himself - she's being cruel to be kind, withholding her assistance so that the baby can become independent and self-reliant. The seagull surprises himself. He jumps off the ledge in desperation and finds he can fly!

2.0The Real Crisis

A family of seagulls lived on a ledge. A young seagull is left alone as he is afraid to fly and is one among the slow learners. All that this young seagull needed was motivation. By way of punishment, his family left him alone on the ledge and flew away. They upbraided him, taunted him for cowardice and even threatened to let him starve. He remained hungry for twenty-four hours and was unable to shed off his fright of flight. He cried begging his mother to bring him some food. She picked up a piece of fish in her beak and flew across him and stood just in front of him. The piece of fish in her beak was almost within the reach of his beak. The young seagull was mad with hunger. He dived at the fish.

3.0Self-Reliance

The next moment he found himself falling outwards and downwards into space. Instinctively, he spread his wings and flapped them. He could feel his wings cutting through the air. He soared upwards and all his fear was gone. It was a joyous moment for his family. His siblings were soaring and diving with him. He forgot that he was ever afraid of flying. He was near the sea now, flying straight over it. He saw a vast green sea beneath him. His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on the green surface of water ahead of him. They were calling him to do the same thing.

He dropped his leg to stand on the green sea. But his legs sank into it. He tried to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger. He could not rise. His feet sank into the green sea. His belly touched it but he sank no further. He was floating on it. Around him was his family, crying and praising him. It was offering him scraps of dog - fish. He had made his first flight.

4.0Let's Recall

• The young seagull is alone on his ledge.
• His parents, two brothers and a little sister flew away the previous day.
• But the young seagull is afraid of flying.
• He fears his wings will not support him and he will fall down into the sea.
• So, he is left behind on the ledge.
• Two days pass, the young seagull gets nothing to eat. He is feeling very hungry.
• Now the mother acts very wisely.
• She wants to end her young one's fear.
• She comes flying to him holding a piece of fish in her beak.
• She comes very near to the ledge but does not land on it.
• He dives at the fish but falls downward into space to fly.
• All his fear goes, the other members come flying around him, making cries of joy.
• After landing on the sea, he begins to float on the sea.
• All the family members praise the seagull, in this way that becomes his first flight.