This is a brief description on the story ‘HIS FIRST FLIGHT’ written by Liam O’ Flaherty

1. A slides presentation on the
chapter ‘HIS FIRST FLIGHT’
written by Liam O’ Flaherty
By GURU ASHISH
10A

2. Introduction
In this story the young seagull was afraid to fly. He lacked confidence. He was
fearful of the sea beneath him.
His parents, brothers, and sister tried their level best to encourage and boost his
confidence.

3. What is a seagull
Seagull is a medium to large sized bird found near seas ,size about 12 to 30 inches. Gray
or white with black markings on head and wings with longish bill ,webbed feats, carnivore
,eats crabs and fish ,lives up to 49 years . Like human beings seagull lives in a family.
It is the most important event in the life of a seagull when he is to take his first flight ,most
vital for his survival .

4. About the lesson
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.

5. continuation
The following day, he is left in isolation and upon feeling hungry; he
tries to seek the attention of his family members. Only his mother,
who is withering a fish in an attempt to eat it, notices his son. The
young seagull cries out of starvation hoping his mother would help.
On seeing his mother come to him with the fish, he gets excited. But
on noticing that his mother stopped mid-way, he gets maddened out
of hunger and takes a dive at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he
is afraid to fly.

6. Ending
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 realises that it is all in the mind.

7. About Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a
major figure in the Irish literary renaissance. He was a keen observer of
sea life and he believed that man has a lot to learn from nature. He has
given a humane touch to the seagull’s plight so that the reader is
reminded of the nervousness he too might experience before doing
something new.

8. Some of his other writings were:-

9. Extracts (Questions)
Q1 The young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already flown away
the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a little run forward to the
brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The great expanse of sea stretched
down beneath, and it was such a long way down miles down. He felt certain that his wings would never
support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to the little hole under the ledge where he slept at
night.
(a) Why was the young seagull afraid?
(b) What did the young seagull feel about his wings?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as ‘the verge’.
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means ‘a narrow flat piece of rock that sticks out from a
cliff’.

10. Q2 That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The
day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers
and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the
waves and how to dive for fish. He had in fact, seen his elder brother catch his first
herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a
proud cackle. And all the morning the whole family had walked about on the big
plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him for his cowardice.
(a) The young seagull had been alone for how much time?
(b) Why was the whole family taunting the young seagull?
(c) Find the word which can be replaced by ‘consume’ in the passage?
(d) The word ‘bravery’ is an antonym of ……….?

11. Extract questions (Answers)
1A) (a) The young seagull was afraid of flying over the sea.
(b) The young seagull felt that his wings would never support him.
(c) The word is ‘brink’.
(d) The word is ‘ledge’.
2A) (a) For twenty four years, the young seagull was alone.
(b) The whole family was taunting the young seagull for his cowardice.
(c) The word is ‘devour’.
(d) The word is ‘cowardice’.

12. Short answer Questions
Q1 Why did the young seagull not go with the rest of his family?
Q2 How did seagull’s parents try to make him fly?
Q3 What had the young seagull watched his parents doing the day before?
Q4 What was the young seagull’s mother doing before him?
Q5 Describe the first flight of the young seagull?
Q6 How did the young seagull and his family celebrate his first flight?
Q7 Do you sympathise with the seagull? Give reasons?

13. Shortly answered questions
1A)The young seagull did not go with the rest of his family because he was afraid to fly.
2A)Seagull’s parents tried everything to make him fly. They screamed, scolded and threatened
to let him starve on the ledge unless he flew away.
3A) The day before the young seagull had watched his parents flying about with his brothers
and sister, perfecting in the art of flying and teaching them how to skim the waves and how to
dive for fish.
4A) The young seagull’s mother was standing on the plateau, her white breast thrust forward.
She tore a piece of fish that lay at her feet, then she scrapped each side of her beak on the rock.

14. 5A)The young seagull dived at the fish due to hunger and fell outwards and
downwards into space. He thought of getting drowned but his wings spread outwards
automatically. He moved downwards and outwards and landed safely on the sea and
floated on it without any fear.
6A) When the young seagull started flying and got over his fear, his family screamed
around him out of joy. They praised him and offered him scraps of dog-fish out of delight as
he made a successful attempt.
7A)Flying is a natural instinct of birds. But the young seagull develops a of fear of flight.
We sympathise with him because he has to suffer a lot before he gets over his fear of
flying. He has to bear the insults of his family. He has to go without food for twenty-four
hours.

15. Long answered question
Q1 Fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things. Do you agree? How did
these two traits of the young seagull make him coward? How did he overcome these
shortcomings?
1A) Yes, it is true that fear and lack of confidence stop us from learning new things.The young
seagull lacked the value of courage and confidence in his character. He was the last member, in his
family, to learn the art of flight. He was too scared to fly. His parents and other siblings encouraged
him constantly. When it did not work, they scolded him for his cowardice. The mother seagull tricked
him and tempted him with a piece of fish. He was kept hungry. His hunger and need for food forced
him to dive into the sea.Though he was not willing to learn the art of flying yet he was tricked by his
family. Once he dived, his fear disappeared and he enjoyed his first flight.It is a fact that unless we try
for something and overcome our fear we can’t learn anything. Confidence and motivation are two
important traits that make any learning possible.

16. Moral of the story (His First flight)
'His First Flight' is a lesson. The seagulls convey the message of self-confidence,
motivation and self-reliance. The mother seagull motivates the young one enough
to get him to learn flying. The baby seagull realises the importance of belief and
faith. He flaps his wings to learn flying and gain the confidence to be independent.
The story conveys 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to
fish and you feed him for a lifetime'. The lesson also stresses the importance of
family and it’s unbreakable support.

17. Mind Map
His first flight
Theme:
The theme of the
story is to have self
confidence and
courage
Author:
Liam o’ Flaherty
Message from the
story:
If one wants to succeed
the amount of
determination,courage,
confidence must be
more than one’s
cowardness,fear,self
disloyalty.
About
It is an interesting
story about a seagull
who was afraid to
fly.