A River Runs Through... Heaven
Classical Education & Discipline
By Todd Wagenmaker, Headmaster
You have probably seen the movie, A River Runs Through it. It is one of (Missourian) Brad Pitt's early movies, and was directed by Robert Redford. If you have not seen it, the reviews might confuse you. One prominent review states that "...it traces the relationship between two brothers growing up in an emotionally constricted household headed by a Presbyterian minister... The two very different brothers are brought together by a mutual love of fly fishing instilled in them by their unyielding father. Fly fishing becomes a poignant metaphor for the love their father was unable to express in any other way." If this reviewer is correct, you have better things to do than watch this movie. However, I would encourage you to watch this movie, since it is actually a poignant metaphor for the goals of Classical, Christian education.
Rev. Maclean is the supposed unyielding father who is also a homeschooling Presbyterian minister. He teaches his young boys how to write, and invariably marks up their compositions with red pen and tells them to keep re-writing it (His comment, "Good-- now make it shorter" is good composition advice). Practice and discipline mark Rev. Maclean's educational efforts. I suppose that some could see Rev. Maclean's efforts as constricting,but he believes that in a fallen world, hard work and discipline are needed to craft great things.
Rev. Maclean not only emphasizes hard work, repetition, and refinement in composition, but also in fly fishing. He teaches his two sons how to flyfish to the rhythm of a metronome. To learn how to effectively fish, it is necessary to master the basics of casting to the regiment of the methodical tick-tocking of the constricting metronome.
Interestingly, Rev. Maclean does not use a metronome when he flyfishes. After his early years of practice, he knows how to cast and where to cast and how to lure his trophies.
Discipline and practice and metronomes are critically important in learning how to flyfish. The lack of discipline's disastrous effects are illustrated in the life of Norman's future brother in law, who visits the Montana country and comes to fish with a coffee can full of worms. He is not ready, nor able, to fish, and doesn't even try.
One of the highlights of the film is near the end, where the younger brother, Paul (Brad Pitt) has the ultimate artistic expression of fly fishing. He touches heaven, as it were, as he not only catches fish, but he transcends the discipline of the prior metronome sessions and defines the beauty and essence of true fly fishing. This is, of course, Rev. Maclean's goal: he does not want his sons to always use the metronome, to always have the red marker correcting their papers, but, through practice and discipline, to transcend the rules and create beautiful works-- to touch heaven!
Transcending the rules and creating truly beautiful works which touch heaven are the ultimate goals of Classical, Christian education! Learning English and Latin grammar, writing according to the Progymnasmata, reading the Classics, memorizing Scripture-- all of these disciplines have as their goal creating heavenly, awe-inspiring works in the lives of our children when they graduate. It takes a metronome to create a master flyfisherman, and it takes the rigor of Classical education to create a master artisan.