In "John Redding Goes to Sea" Thurston writes of a young man from Florida who feels destined to travel the world, but is being held back by his family (namely his mother and, later in the story, his wife). From a very early age he plans on joining the navy so he can go to sea and experience all that the world has to offer. His mother, though, is not so keen on the idea. She wants to keep her boy close so she can keep an eye on him. She also doesn't want to face the worry of having John so far away.
John Redding's father, on the other hand, is more understanding and supportive of his son's dreams. Throughout the story he tries to convince his wife that John should be allowed to fulfill his destiny with his mother's blessing, but she stubbornly refuses to give in to what she sees as whimsy. Even when John gets a chance to join the navy she states that the only way he will ever leave is over her dead body.
In the end John fially gets what he wants although not in the way he was hoping for. He goes to help secure a new bridge when a horrible storm rolls in. His mother, father, and wife wait up all night for the storm to end and for John to return. In the morning John's father goes down to the bridge site only to see his son floating downstream to the sea.
Even though this story was fraught with tension and angst I must say I enjoyed reading it. Hurston's character development was excellent, and the story flowed along without effort. I also liked the fact that Hurston addressed issues such as the fact that, while good intentioned, sometimes the family can be a hinderance and that mothers don't always know best.
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