A River Runs Through It

Norman and his family greet Jessie’s brother Neal at the train station when Neal arrives from the west coast. The first night, Neal tries to sneak out of the house to go drinking, so Norman accompanies him to a local bar. There they meet up with two of the bar’s summertime regulars: Long Bow, a Native American sheepherder and sharpshooter, and Old Rawhide, an ex-rodeo trick rider and prostitute.

Neal regales the company with lies about his hunting and trapping prowess. He buys drinks for everyone, and as Norman leaves, Old Rawhide shows interest in Neal. Norman reminds Neal that they are going fishing in the morning.

The next morning, Neal is still in bed when Paul arrives to go fishing. Paul tells Florence, Neal’s mother, to get him up despite his hangover. Florence, Jessie, Jessie’s brother Kenny and Kenny’s wife, Dorothy, load up Kenny’s truck for a family picnic and fishing trip on the Elkhorn river. Jessie instructs Norman not to leave Neal behind. Neal, however, sets himself up with a can of worms and refuses to try fly fishing with Norman.

As he fishes for small trout, Norman muses about whether he will try to talk to his brother today about the events of the other night and about the possibility of lending him money. Soon, Norman tires of catching small trout, and he turns his mind to the big fish that are to be found in another part of the Elkhorn.

Norman details the specifics of the water where he thinks he will locate the fish, and he describes different casting techniques. He manages to cast perfectly into the willow bushes where he catches a large fish that goes free when it jumps into a bush. Paul sees the fish escape, and he offers Norman advice on how to catch the large brown trout. Excited by the prospect of catching a large fish, Norman asks Paul if he can help Paul with money. Paul ignores him, but he attempts to thank him by saying that they need to go find Neal and that they should help Neal by taking him fishing with them.

Norman understands that Paul is really talking about himself in an oblique way. In a subtle way, Paul is asking Norman to keep on trying to help him, even if he is not successful. A storm breaks, and Norman gets in trouble with his wife Jessie and his mother-in-law for leaving Neal behind.

To ease the strain on his marriage, Norman decides to take a break from the family situation with Neal, and he resolves to go to the family cabin on Seeley Lake for a few days. His wife agrees that he should go away. Norman asks Paul to go with him.

Just after Norman and Paul arrive at the cabin, Neal shows up with Old Rawhide, wanting to go fishing. Paul and Old Rawhide both tell Norman to help Neal. They set off to go fishing; in the heat of noontime, the fish will be lying on the bottom of the lake.