Analysis of the novel "The Last Inch" by James Aldridge. To help the student

Composition

The problem of the relationship between parents and children exists, because people of different ages find it difficult to understand each other, and sooner or later each of us is faced with this problem. Each of us has to solve it. Very often, the whole subsequent life depends on the correctness of the decision. A huge number of works are devoted to the problem of the relationship between adults and children. In his short story The Last Inch, the American writer J. Aldridge also addressed this issue.

Ben, a professional pilot, was filming a film about sharks, because it was difficult to find a job by profession, his age for a pilot was “critical”, and “the money he saved for two years, flying over the hot desert, gave his wife the opportunity to live decently in Cambridge ". He "needed to make more money quickly, and the opportunity arose."

Going to shoot in Shark Bay lost in the sea, Ben took with him his ten-year-old son Davy - “a lonely, restless child who, at the age of ten, felt that his mother was not interested in him, and his father was a stranger, harsh and laconic, did not know about than talking to him in those rare moments when they were together. " When Ben was left alone with the boy, he felt remorse and guilt that he could not establish a trusting relationship with his son, did not find a way to his heart: “Ben wanted to please the boy with something, but for many years he never succeeded , and now, apparently, it was too late. "

However, as soon as Davy disappeared from the pilot's field of vision, Ben seemed to forget about his existence. He even forgot to take water or juice when they flew to the deserted Shark Bay, taking only beer for themselves. And the boy, like every child, wanted to have a loving, caring father who could give answers to questions of interest.

Ben, on the other hand, annoyed all his questions and he was harsh with Davy. His father's rude and mocking words hurt and offended the boy. The son was embarrassed and more and more withdrawn into himself.

The relationship between father and son was complicated and it seemed completely impossible that they would ever find a common language, if not for "His Majesty the case." The only pity is that this incident almost took their lives.

In Shark Bay, Ben was attacked by sharks during filming. He suffered so much from sharks that he could not fly the plane himself. And now all the hope was in the son. The boy, who seemed so unadapted to life, showed extraordinary courage, mobilized all his strength, was able to remember everything that his father had taught him. And most importantly, he believed Ben's words that a person can withstand anything. "You never know what you are capable of until you try," said his father. And the son tried it. And he could. He won! He saved himself and his father. Davy not only managed to bandage his father's wounds and drag him into the plane, but also independently, guided by rare instructions from Ben, exhausted from blood loss, bring the plane to Cairo and land him successfully. For the first time in their lives, father and son listened and heard each other, because that was their only chance of salvation.

With his perseverance, his faith and love, the son gave his father a second life. And now Ben realized that there are things in his life that are much more important than airplanes and work. Having changed internally, he decided that he would certainly melt the ice in his relationship with his son: “He will get to the very heart of the boy! Sooner or later, but he will get to him. " And I believe that Ben will overcome this “last inch” that separates him with his son, and the problem of the relationship between “fathers” and “children” will no longer be relevant to them.

I think Aldridge James's The Last Inch is a story about how important it is for children and parents to understand and love each other.

The main characters of the story are father and son. Father's name is Ben. He was a pilot but lost his job. Most importantly, it seems to me that he lost his family. His wife left him because she could not live in Arabia, where Ben worked. She went home. And his ten-year-old son stayed with him only because Joanna decided not to take him with her: she did not need him. “So he was left with nothing, except for an indifferent wife, who did not need him, and a ten-year-old son, who was born too late and, as Ben understood in his heart, a stranger to both of them - a lonely, restless child who at ten felt that his mother was not interested in him, and his father was an outsider, harsh and laconic, not knowing what to talk to him about in those rare moments when they were together. "

I really feel sorry for the boy. I think it's too hard for a child to feel and think from childhood that nobody needs you, even your parents. Although Ben sometimes tried to get closer to his son, it usually didn’t work. So, once he even wanted to teach Davy to fly: "Ben once tried to teach the boy to fly an airplane, and although the son turned out to be very understanding and quickly learned the basic rules, every shout from his father brought him to tears."

I think Ben just didn't love his son. He always dreamed that he would make money and go to Canada in search of work. And he will be sent to his mother in New England. It seems to me that when a child is loved, they do not seek to get rid of him as soon as the opportunity arises.

And when the old pilot was offered a job, he decided to take his son with him. Ben had to shoot sharks underwater for the TV company, in their native element. It was necessary to shoot in Shark Bay, on the Red Sea. When they flew to the bay, they saw only desert for many kilometers around: “Everything was motionless and dead. The sun burned out all life here, and in the spring, for thousands of square miles, winds lifted masses of sand into the air and carried it to the other side of the Indian Ocean, where it remained forever at the bottom of the sea. " Here is a dangerous place they had to land: if their plane suddenly broke down, they would die.

During the flight, Ben regretted that he took his son with him: he no longer believed that they could love each other. When they landed, the father was still talking to his son in a harsh tone. "Ben knew that his tone was harsh, and he always wondered why he couldn’t talk to a boy." I think this is because he has not been involved in raising a child since childhood: "When the child was born, began to walk, and then became a teenager, Ben was almost constantly on flights and did not see his son for a long time."

When Ben started going underwater to shoot sharks, everything went well at first. But the second time, trouble happened. When he tied the bait, he smeared himself with blood, and the shark attacked him. Ben fought back as best he could and in the end escaped, was able to get ashore. He was alive, but his arms and legs were wounded and he lost a lot of blood.

When he got out, he lost consciousness, and when he regained consciousness, he realized: “His affairs are absolutely bad. But then I realized that something had to be done: if he dies, the boy will be left alone. The only hope to save the boy was the plane, and Davy would have to fly it. There was no other hope, no other way out. " I think that here he acted like a real man. He, bleeding, did everything to save his son. Ben calmed the boy for a long time. At first he tried to shout at him, but then he realized that his son was already very scared, and he needed to talk to him calmly and affectionately.

Ben guided Davy as he bandaged him and dragged him to the plane. When they got to the car, his father said to cheer him up:

You can do anything in life, Davy.

So he prepared his son for the idea that he would be able to fly the plane. When they got into the cockpit, the boy had already ceased to be afraid and, under the guidance of his father, lifted the car into the air. After takeoff, when his father passed out, Davy found himself at a high altitude at the helm of the plane all alone. He was very scared, and this is not surprising: he was only ten years old. But he was similar in character to his father - strong in spirit and courageous: “Left alone at an altitude of three thousand meters, Davy decided that he would never be able to cry again. His tears have dried up for life. " So the child became quite an adult.

Davy flew to Cairo on his own, and before landing, Ben, fortunately, woke up. A courageous man, he lost a lot of blood, but still did everything to help his son land the plane. After all, landing is the most difficult thing. “Ben was shaking and drenched in sweat, he felt that from his whole body only his head was left alive. There were no more arms and legs. " So, suffering from wounds, he still helped his son land the plane and not crash.

When Ben woke up, he was already in the hospital. One hand was amputated, but the main thing is that they survived. And most importantly, Ben finally realized that he had nothing in his life dearer than his son. He decided to devote the rest of his life to his child: “It is worth giving time to this. He will get to the very heart of the boy! Sooner or later, but he will get to him. The last inch that separates everyone and everything is not easy to overcome if you are not a master of your craft. But being a master of your craft is a pilot's duty, and Ben was once a very good pilot. "

The story "The Last Inch" ends with these words. And I really want to believe that Ben and Davy will truly love each other and will take care of each other for the rest of their lives. I think this is the most important thing in life - to take care of someone.

Father and son in D. Aldridge's story "The Last Inch"

The protagonists of James Aldridge's story "The Last Inch" are the old pilot Ben and his son Davy. Ben has worked in many countries: Canada, the United States, Iran. Most recently, he worked for an oil company looking for oil in Egypt. They didn't find the oil, and Ben lost his job as a pilot at the company.

He was already forty-three years old, and therefore Ben could hardly count on another place. He decided to make money by filming underwater sharks for a TV company. Ben lived in Cairo with a French maid and Davy. His son was ten years old, and they had a very difficult relationship.

Ben worked all the time: when his son was born, and when he was growing up, when he began to walk and talk. Therefore, he devoted very little time to his child. His wife Joanna was dissatisfied with life in the deserts of Arabia and in the end left her husband and son and went home to New England. This is how Ben had to raise his son, something he had never done before.

Davy didn't treat his parents very well either. This is because he was always alone, no one was doing it. I think that he really lacked parental attention and he suffered a lot from this. His father always spoke to him in a harsh tone and often scolded him. Davy, at the age of ten, felt very lonely and restless. This is because he saw: "the mother is not interested in him, and the father is an outsider, harsh and laconic, not knowing what to talk to him about in those rare moments when they were together."

And so, in order to somehow get closer to his son, Ben took him on a flight. They flew to Shark Bay on the Red Sea. It was called that because there were a lot of these predators in it, and Ben decided to shoot here. He was offered a lot of money for this job, and so he decided to take the risk, although it is very dangerous. In addition, there was a large desert around Shark Bay, and if something happened to them, then no one would be able to come to the rescue.

When they landed, Ben got busy preparing the scuba gear and movie camera, and Davy helped him. The father was sternly commanding his son, and his tone was very harsh: “Ben suddenly felt that he was talking to the boy as he was talking to his wife, whose indifference always caused him to a harsh, commanding tone. No wonder the poor kid shuns both of them. ” And Davy himself was very silent. He was always afraid to incur the wrath of his father, so he always tried to do everything he said and not say too much.

When his father dived under the water for the first time, Davy felt very lonely, and was afraid that he might die if something happened to his father. Even when they had just arrived, Davy asked his father several times if they would be found here. Ben thought that the boy was afraid that they would be arrested, and replied that no one would find them here. This only frightened the poor boy even more. He sat and looked at the sea: “Nothing was visible under the water, and in the hot silence, alone, which he did not regret, although suddenly he felt it sharply, the boy wondered what would happen to him if his father never will emerge from the depths of the sea.

But the first time nothing happened to Ben - he filmed the sharks with a movie camera, went ashore, and they sat down to breakfast. Here it turned out that the pilot did not think to take water with him - only beer for himself. I think this is a very clear indication of Ben's lack of attention to his own son.

After they had breakfast, Ben took the bait - a horse's leg, went down under the water, tied it to the coral, and he began to shoot sharks, which immediately pounced on the meat. But Ben didn't notice that he was covered in blood. But sharks always attack when they smell blood. And the most dangerous - a shark-cat, attacked Ben. He began to fight back and barely escaped. When he got out of the water onto the sand, he fell unconscious from loss of blood.

When Ben woke up, it turned out that his legs and arms were so wounded that he would not be able to walk on his own and would not be able to fly the plane. When he looked at his right hand, he “saw muscles, tendons, almost no blood. The left one looked like a piece of chewed meat and bled badly. "

Ben realized that they would die, and they had only one way out: the plane had to be led by Davy. Once he taught his son to fly an airplane, and he managed to master many things. But he knew that the boy would be frightened if he immediately told him that he would fly the plane. "It was necessary to gropingly find the way to the fear-seized, immature consciousness of the child." Therefore, Ben began to gradually persuade his son: first to bandage the wounds, then help him crawl to the plane, then help him climb inside.

Finally, when they got on the plane, Ben said, "You have to get down to business yourself, Davy." The father told his son what to do and directed the takeoff. But when they took to the air, he passed out. It's good that he managed to explain to his son which course to fly. Ben woke up when they were already flying up to Cairo. At the end of the flight, he again helped the boy - this time to land the plane.

They were saved thanks to the ten-year-old Davy and the courage of Ben, who even before his death (he thought he would die) thought only about how to save his son. Ben lost his left arm in the hospital - it had to be cut off, but survived. And most importantly, he was able to find a way to the heart of his son. After this incident they became much closer to each other. I even think that for the first time they fell in love with each other - like father and son. Now Ben decided that he would never let Davy go from himself and would take up his upbringing. He decided that he must definitely raise him to be a real person.

Very briefly, a pilot who has lost his job is trying to raise money by shooting sharks. On the set, he takes a ten-year-old son, with whom his relationship is not going well. The shark attacks the pilot, and the son rescues the wounded father.

The titles of the chapters are conditional and do not correspond to the original.

Ben's life story

Ben was a good pilot. He gained the necessary experience while flying in Canada on an old DC-3 aircraft. In recent years, he has flown on Fairchild, looking for oil for the non-export company Texegipto. To land the geologists, Ben could land the plane anywhere: “on the sand, on the bushes, on the rocky bottom of dry streams and on the long white shoals of the Red Sea,” each time reclaiming the last inch above the ground.

But now this work is over. The company's management gave up trying to find a large oil field and decided that they did not need a reconnaissance aircraft. Ben is 43 years old. His wife, unable to bear life in the hot Egyptian desert, left for her native Masachusetts. Ben promised to come to her, but he understood that he would not be able to hire a pilot in his old age, and "decent and decent" work did not attract him.

Now Ben has only a ten-year-old son, Davy, whom his wife did not consider it necessary to take with her. It was an introverted child, lonely and restless. His mother was not interested in him, and the boy was afraid of his abrupt laconic father. For Ben, the son was a stranger and incomprehensible person, with whom he did not even try to find a common language.

Shark attack

And now he regretted that he had taken his son with him - the plane "Oster", rented by Ben, shook strongly, and the boy felt sick. Taking Davy to the Red Sea was another of Ben's generous impulses that rarely ended well. During one of these impulses, he taught the boy how to fly an airplane. Although Davy was a quick-witted child, his father's rude shouts eventually brought him to tears.

Ben was brought to the secluded coast of the Red Sea by another job: he had to shoot sharks. The TV company paid well for the film footage of such a film. Landing the plane on a long sandbank, Ben made his son watch and study, although the boy was very ill.

The sandbank formed Shark Bay, so named because of the toothy inhabitants. After giving his son a few harsh orders, Ben disappeared into the water. Davy sat on the shore until dinner, looking at the deserted sea, and thinking what would happen to him if his father did not return. The predators were not very active today, and Ben decided to lure them with a horse leg, which he took with him. He had already shot several meters of film when a cat shark became interested in him.

The fish was four feet long and weighed only God knows how much; she glanced at him from her hideout, as she had last time — a week ago. She must have lived here for at least a hundred years.

She swam too close, and Ben hurried to the beach.

During lunch, he found that he took only beer with him - he did not think about his son who does not drink beer again. The boy wondered if anyone knew about this trip. Ben said that this bay can only be reached by air, he did not understand that the boy was not afraid of intruders, but of loneliness.

Ben hated and feared sharks, but after lunch he dived again, this time with bait. With the money he received for the film, he hoped to send Davy to his mother.

The predators gathered around the meat, but the cat shark rushed at the man. Ben crawled out onto the sand, bleeding. When Davy ran up to him, it turned out that the shark almost tore off Ben's right arm and severely injured his left. The legs, too, were all cut and chewed.

Ben realized that his affairs were very bad, but he could not die. He had to fight for Davy. Only now he tried to find an approach to the boy and persuade him to sit at the controls of the plane.

Father and son

For a more detailed content of this passage, read the retelling "".

Loosing consciousness every minute, Ben lay down on a towel and kicked off the sand while his son dragged him to the plane. So that his father could climb into the passenger seat, Davy piled stones and pieces of coral in front of the plane and dragged his father along this ramp.

You can do anything in life, Davy, - he said in a weak voice, - if you don't strain yourself. Do not overstrain ...

Only now Davy realized that the role of the pilot belongs to him. Meanwhile, a strong wind rose and it began to get dark. Ben sincerely regretted that he had not bothered to recognize this gloomy boy, and now he cannot find the right words to cheer him up.

Following his father's instructions, Davy barely lifted the plane into the air. The boy remembered the map, knew how to use the compass and knew that he had to fly along the Suez Canal, and then turn towards Cairo. Ben was unconscious most of the way. He woke up just before landing. Raising himself with difficulty in his chair, Ben helped his son to put the car. At the same time, they miraculously missed a huge four-engined aircraft.

To the surprise of the Egyptian doctors, Ben survived, although he lost his left arm along with the ability to fly planes. Now he had one concern: to find a way to the heart of his son, to overcome the last inch separating them.

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