His First Flight - Class 10 English - Tamil Animated Explanation

Class 10 English Chapter 3
Two Stories about Flying
His First Flight by Liam O’ Flaherty
“The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step”

His First Flight by Liam O’ Flaherty

His First Flight – Introduction
The story by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is an account of a young bird that is afraid to fly for the first time. He believes that his wings would not support him. Despite his younger siblings flying fearlessly with much shorter wings, he could not gather the courage to do the same. He was punished to stay hungry if he did not try. Thus, it was his mother that compelled him to fly by using food as a trap. The lesson reflects how one hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all in the mind. One should trust one’s abilities because “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself”.

Theme of the Lesson
The topic of “His First Flight” is bravery and self-assurance. It emphasises the value of tackling one’s concerns head-on and emphasises the need to instil a never-give-up mentality in order to succeed. The story gives an important lesson that fear exists only in one’s mind.

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His First Flight Summary
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. 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. 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 realizes that it is all in the mind.