Good man
Norman describes his father because he is an important figure in his life. Norman lives his life after the principles told by his father and he is a very obedient child. Despite this, Norman doesn’t describe his father as being a tyrant of a scary figure who demands to be listened to. Instead, he is a calm man, a loving one who cares about his family and who only wants them to succeed in life. Norman portrays his father in very positive terms and this is an important fact to note because Norman’s father will remain a positive figure until the end of the story.
Dangerous
Norman’s father goes to great lengths to portray the life in their little town as being idyllic and perfect, something the boys will not be able to find anywhere else. While Norman’s father talks about his little town in positive terms, he paints the rest of the world as being crocked and bad. What he does is to transmit the idea that the boys will be happier if they remain at home. Unfortunately however, Paul maintains this type of view and he considers everyone coming from any other place as being incompetent and inadequate to do certain things like fly-fishing.
Childlike
When Paul talks about Neal, he portrays him almost as a child, incompetent and unable to do anything for himself. The reason why Paul portrays Neal this way is because Neal does not know how to fish. This only proves even further the idea that in Montana, the idea of manliness was deeply connected with a man’s capability of being a skilled fisherman.
Reporters
The author also describes the reporters that worked with Paul and their behavior and by their description, the reader can build a certain image about the profession during those times. Norman describes the reporters as being drunk in the morning and smoking almost non-stop. Paul as well is the same, drinking at nine in the morning and trying to argue his actions by giving different unjustified reasons for his behavior. These descriptions have the purpose of showing that the men who chose to become reporters were usually those who had a questionable character.
