The Ledge by Lawrence Sargent Hall
"The Ledge" by Lawrence Sargent Hall is a poignant and gripping short story that explores themes of masculinity, ambition, and the consequences of hubris. Set on a Christmas morning off the coast of Maine, the narrative follows a fisherman known for his ruggedness and assertive demeanor as he embarks on a duck hunting expedition with his son and nephew. Despite the exhilaration of the outing, the story reveals the internal conflicts within the fisherman’s family, particularly the strain his personality inflicts on his wife.
As the hunt progresses, the fisherman’s confidence leads him to underestimate the dangers of the sea, ultimately resulting in dire consequences when their skiff drifts away. The chilling portrayal of their struggle against nature emphasizes the fragility of human existence and the consequences of reckless pride. Notably, the story culminates in a haunting finale, where the desperation of survival is juxtaposed with the unwavering faith the boy has in his father. The narrative ultimately leaves readers reflecting on the complexities of parental relationships and the harsh realities of life and loss.
On this Page
The Ledge by Lawrence Sargent Hall
First published: 1959
Type of plot: Realism
Time of work: The 1950's
Locale: The Maine coast
Principal Characters:
The fisherman , a veteran outdoorsman on both land and seaHis son , a thirteen-year-old boyHis nephew , a fifteen-year-old farm boy from inland
The Story
On Christmas morning before sunup, a fisherman wakes up keen with anticipation of a day of hunting sea ducks with his son and nephew. Their destination is a tiny ledge, Devil's Hump, near Brown Cow Island, on the Maine coast.
The fisherman is known as a "hard man," given to bragging and expressing his contempt for others less ambitious, but his forceful way achieves success in the only world that he recognizes—a world of outdoor activities focusing on hard work and hunting and fishing. His insensitivity has long made his wife yearn for a different kind of life, but on balance she has decided to stick with him despite his "incurably male" intransigence. She is thus not surprised to hear the roar of the outboard motor on the skiff that carries the fisherman and the two adolescents out to their larger boat before daylight on Christmas morning.
With the skiff and the outboard secured across the boat's stern, the three make their way to Brown Cow Island, where they anchor their boat and motor another three hundred yards in their skiff to Devil's Hump. They plan to arrive at about the same time the tide has receded enough so they can land and begin shooting around half-tide. The fisherman has it figured exactly: They will have about four hours before the ledge is completely submerged by high tide again. After finishing their "gunning" in late afternoon, they will go home with a skiff full of sea ducks—many more than their legal limit, a fact that does not ruffle the fisherman's ethical sense in the slightest. With the three is the fisherman's black retriever, too old to swim in the icy water but happy at being in on the fun.
The fisherman's mood blackens when he discovers that he has left his pipe tobacco at home. Even though he snaps at the boys, he refuses to return home, because to do so would throw his plan "out of phase." Because he is a man who persists through temporary setbacks, he merely clamps his teeth on his dead pipe and contents himself with the thought of the whiskey bottle he has packed with their lunches.
Everything goes as planned. They land their skiff on Devil's Hump, they eat sandwiches and drink coffee, and in an orgy of shotgun salvos they load the skiff with ninety-two birds. By this time the tide begins to come back in, and the fisherman, his belly warmed by whiskey, leisurely prepares to take the skiff back to the boat and head for home. A feeling of horror strikes him, however, when he discovers that the skiff has drifted away; he knows in a flash that they are dead once the ledge is again submerged by the tide.
The three hundred yards to Brown Cow Island may just as well be three hundred miles in the frigid water. In a desperate attempt to attract someone's attention, the hunters fire their remaining two and one-half boxes of shotgun shells into the air but nobody answers from the pitching sea.
The dog succumbs first. His eleven-year companionship with the fisherman ends when the hapless creature swims aimlessly off into the water, now dark with night. The fisherman's grit fortifies him to the end. He braces himself against the rock and has his son climb on his shoulders. The nephew disappears into the blackness of the encroaching waters, and the drama fades out the only way it can. The boy rides his father's straining back with faith that whatever can be done, his father will do, but nothing avails.
The skiff is found early the next morning, half full of ducks and snow. Two hours later the bigger boat is discovered five miles out to sea. At noon, at ebb tide, the fisherman is found with his right foot wedged into a crevice in the ledge, the three shotguns beside him, and under his right elbow the right boot of his son. The boys' bodies are never found.