Editing The Straight Story (section)

==Plot==
In [[Laurens, Iowa]], Alvin Straight fails to show up to his regular bar meeting with friends and is eventually found lying on his kitchen floor after a fall. His daughter, Rose, takes her reluctant father to see a doctor, who sternly admonishes him to give up tobacco, improve his diet, and use a [[walker (mobility)|walker]], all of which he rejects. When Alvin's brother, Lyle, suffers a stroke, Alvin decides to visit Lyle, even though they have not spoken in ten years.

As neither Alvin (due to his age) nor Rose (due to an unspecified disability) have a driver's license, Alvin decides to travel 240 miles to [[Mount Zion, Wisconsin]] on his [[riding mower]], towing a small homemade travel-trailer along the way. This stirs doubt and worry in the minds of his family, friends, and neighbors.

Alvin's first attempt quickly fails when the mower's motor breaks down. He hitchhikes to the [[Grotto of the Redemption]] and arranges for someone to take him home. Frustrated, he shoots the mower with a shotgun. He buys a used 1966 [[John Deere]] 110 lawn tractor to resume his journey.

Alvin meets a variety of people on the road. He shares his dinner with a young, pregnant female hitchhiker, who ran away from home out of fear that her family would be upset. Alvin teaches her about the importance of family, comparing it to a bundle of sticks that is hard to break compared to a single stick. The next day, she leaves him a bundle of sticks tied together as a thank-you. Several [[RAGBRAI]] cyclists are amused to see him on the highway and welcome him to their campsite. He speaks with some of the cyclists about growing old. He also meets a distraught woman who hit a deer during her commute and tearfully rants about how she keeps on hitting deer despite her prayers. Alvin cooks and eats the deer, mounting the antlers on his trailer as a tribute to the deer and the sustenance it provided.

Alvin's tractor begins to fail, throwing his journey into jeopardy. His brakes fail as he travels down a steep hill, but he manages to stop. Danny, a local, invites Alvin to camp in his backyard until his tractor is repaired. He offers to drive Alvin to Mount Zion, but Alvin declines, preferring to travel his own way.  

Running low on cash, Alvin asks Rose to send him his [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] check. Two bickering mechanics overcharge him for fixing his tractor, but he cannily bargains the price down. A fellow veteran invites Alvin for a drink, and they exchange traumatic stories about their experiences in [[World War II]]. Alvin confesses that he is still haunted by killing an American in a [[friendly fire]] incident, and says that he became an alcoholic after the war, although he has since kicked the habit.

After crossing into Wisconsin, Alvin chats with a Catholic priest who recognizes Lyle's name and is aware of his stroke. The priest says that Lyle never mentioned a brother. Alvin admits that he wants to make amends. Although the exact cause of the estrangement is never stated, Alvin says his alcoholism contributed to it.

Alvin finally arrives in Mount Zion. To steel himself, Alvin has his first beer in years. However, his engine fails shortly before reaching Lyle's house. A passing driver stops to fix his tractor. After Alvin arrives, Lyle (aged and using a walker) invites him to sit together on the porch. Lyle asks if Alvin rode the tractor all the way just to see him. Alvin quietly confirms this, and Lyle's eyes well up with tears. The two men sit together silently and gaze up at the stars.