Summary For His First Flight By Liam O'flaherty?

The short story "His First Flight" by Irish author Liam O'Flaherty is about a family of seagulls. They can all fly except the youngest male, who has tried several times but to no avail. The story is a metaphorical representation of a human's need to be independent and confident but still appreciative and understanding of friends and family.

• The story begins by establishing some of the following points:

There are six seagulls in total; a mother, a father, three sons and one daughter. All of the children have learnt to fly except for the youngest son. The parents have tried countless times to get him to fly but he is too scared, and he relies on the food that his parents bring back from their flights.

So once left with no other options, the parents decide that they must take firm measures to help the youngest son learn to fly. The whole family flies away; leaving the youngest son alone on the rock without food. This is in an attempt to motivate the youngest son to fly so that he can be with his family and find food.

After a while it becomes apparent that the youngest son is still very hesitant and afraid. He sees his mother eating fish in the distance and begins begging her to let him share. The mother then approaches him but keeps the fish just out of reach.

• A twist of fate

The youngest son desperately tries to jump for the fish but he is not successful. Suddenly, the youngest son jumps off the rock in one final attempt to reach the fish and begins falling. Instinctively, he starts to flap his wings and therefore starts to fly. The entire family is thoroughly overjoyed.

This story highlights the importance of independence and self-belief, as well as the need to remain involved in family life.
 

"To dominate the fear" is the central idea of this story. Flaherty is a great Irish novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. He is a keen observer and interested in sea-life. He spent much time on sea-shore and studied the life of seagulls quite closely.
Once a young seagull was standing alone on a rock in the sea, he was afraid of flying. His parents taught his sister and two brothers how to fly and dive for fish into the sea. They strove their level best to teach the young seagull to fly but in vain.
One day his parents thought a plan to teach his flying. All the members of his family flew away to another rock and left him alone. They did not give him anything to eat. Twenty-four hours passed. The young seagull walked to the edge of the rock. He stood there on one leg and closed his eyes. Now he was very hungry. He saw his mother tearing a piece of fish. He begged his mother to give him food. The mother of the seagull knew that it was the time to hit upon the nail. She decided to exploit the hunger of the young seagull for his betterment. She took a piece of fish in her beak and came flying over him. When she reached over him, she became motionless in the air. She did not get down on the rock. She wanted to give the young seagull an incentive to fly. The young seagull bent forward and jumped at the fish. But his mother flew upward. So he lost his balance and flew down from the rock into the space. He becomes much frightened. But to save his life he began to flap his wings. As soon as he flapped his wings, he started to fly. In this way, he learnt how to fly.

This story tells us 'be confident'

ANGEL
This story tells us not to be aware about themselves and be courageous and attain self-confidence.

His First Flight by Liam O’ Flaherty is a story with the primary themes of having courage and self-confidence....

Every first step in life needs courage and confidence. Justify this statement citing examples from the lesson His First Flight