The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop is a poem with great irony. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker has caught a “tremendous fish” that she speaks of to be victorious. The catch to this is that she speaks how ugly the fish looks and in lines 5 that “He didn’t fight.” I found this to be very strange.
In the first part of this poem the speaker caught a big fish, but he is not fighting as he hangs off the boat with a hook in his mouth. The next part says that he didn’t fight at all. To describe his weight and the way that he looks, the fish is described by saying “He hung a grunting weight.” The poem then says that the fish is “battered and venerable”. The skin on this huge fish “hung in strips like ancient wall-paper.” This helps the reader see how beat up and old this huge fish is.
Bishop describes the fish in even more detail by saying that “he was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime.” This poor fish is described to be old and beat up and is even “infested with tiny white sea-lice.”
The speaker then states that she is thinking of the white flesh, bones, and his entrails as if she is planning to eat this fish. After thinking all of these things, she looks into the eyes of the fish. She describes his eyes as bigger than her but did not return her stare. She then begins to “admire his sullen face.” Then she sees his lower lip. The writer states that in his lip “hung five old pieces of fish-line.” The writer begins to describe how all of these lines and hooks have grown into the fish’s huge mouth. One thing that contradicted the beginning of this poem is line 61 that says “like medals with their ribbons.” In this sentence the writer is referring to all of the hooks that he got away from and lines he broke. He used to be such a trophy because he had broke all of those lines that were so much bigger than the speaker’s fishing line.
At the end of this poem you can then realize that the speaker has seen the beauty of this fish. In the beginning of this poem, the speaker relates to the fish as ugly and raged, but now the speaker sees how strong and rewarding this nice fish had been through the years of his youth. She begins to see that all of those flaws that she saw are just trophy scars that prove how magnificent he used to be. The speaker has realized all of this and has decided to let the fish live out the rest of his great life being this strong warrior.
The biggest irony of this story is how the opinion of the speaker changes. At the beginning of the story, we expect the speaker to keep this fish and take this ugly fish home to eat but she does not. At the end of the poem, the speaker decides to let this great fish go free.
Bishop, Elizabeth. "The Fish." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. By John Schilb and John Clifford. Fourth Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 830-832. Print.
7 comments:
There is a certain trill that catch and release provides. The thrill of victory for you the angler having lured your adversary to certain death, being craftier than he, and now holding the power of his life in your hands. The release has some great rewards as well, the feeling of setting him free, the challenge to him that you will meet to do battle another day, and finally the thought that someone else might have a chance to experience the same thrill of catching a great fish. This poem says all of this and more, thanks for your insight.
I really like the you brought up the point about thinking of the fish in terms of food before looking into his eyes. That wasn't something I really noticed when reading the poem, but after going back I do see the switch from her looking at it as just a fish for victory or for food and slowly it becoming something beautiful. She really seemed to personify the fish after first just viewing it in terms of a meal.
I agree for all that you wrote. You show us the clear irony for the poem. I like your analyze for some lines. In my opinion also the poet show us that is not important everything you fished you can eat it because not all the fishes do taste good. every fish has different taste and different benefits even if it is old or young.
i agree with you, i felt the same why when i read the pome, i liked the line " hung fice old pieces of fish line" becouse that makes you know tha tthe fish has almost been cought 5 times but got away and to me it made it seems like a beard that was showing his age.
i agree with you espically you said he author admiring and appreciating this fish. but i have a different idea which i think the author may uses the fish to reflect his own life. he tried to struggle for life when he was young. but when he is old, he find out he can do nothing with his life but to face it.
This author describes the beauty of the fish. He describes how the fish looks and what happens when it is caught. It was expected for the man to keep the fish, but decides to let it go. He does this because he feels the fish should be able to live.
I am the same as you on how you feel about this poem and he describes this fish in so great detail. We all expected the man to kill, eat, or even mount the fish, but he did not any of those. He let the fish go, because after all the fishes struggles it wouldnt be right to take a fish at his weakest hour.
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