Analytical Essay On 'The Fish'
Thesis 2: "The Fish"
"The Fish" is filled with intense imagery, there is an image brought to mind with every line of things that are beautiful such as flowers, or more brutal such as the many hooks found on the fishes lip. The narrator is telling the story of how they "caught a tremendous fish" while giving a vivid description of it to the audience, they give us a glimpse into the previous ventures and feelings of this fish. The narrator is admiring this fish by listing every color that she sees with vivid descriptions matching everyday items or things that people can compare these too. Catching the fish was joyous, and the colors beautiful, this fish had become a rainbow.
In this poem, the author uses visual, auditory, and sensory imagery.
The poem starts out with visual imagery, the description of the fish through colors and objects (brown skin, like wallpaper, pink swim-bladder, etc.). Then auditory imagery comes in when the fish is gasping for air, "While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen" the audience could picture the sounds of the fish flopping and trying to return to the water. Sensory imagery is used within the lines through specific words grim, wet, crimpled, rusted etc.
As "The Fish" progresses throughout each detail, the fish becomes easier to visualize, each detail creates an even bigger and detailed image with each line. With each new detail that the author gives the picture begins to show the beauty and ugliness of this fish through the imagery she uses. Everything is described, the boat, the hook, the lure, the fish, etc. it gives the reader the feeling that they are on this boat experiencing this catch with the narrator. Lines five-eight allow you to sympathize with the fish:
"He didn't fight.
He hadn't fought at all.
He hung a grunted weight, battered and venerable and homely…."
This begins to help build the relationship with the fish, at first the fish is a captured helpless creature allowing the reader to feel sorry for the fish. The relationship then starts to become personal between the narrator and the fish: "I looked into his eyes", "They shifted a little, but not to return my stare." this shows that they are beginning to understand one another. Although the fish is helpless in the situation gasping for air "breathing in the terrible oxygen" it has gotten past this obstacle before. The fish has already had "five old pieces of fish-line" on his lower lip. The relationship then becomes a kind of admiration for the fish for still being alive after surviving being caught five other times. With respect and admiration, the narrator releases the fish, allowing both to grow from the experience.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "An Introduction to Poetry." An Introduction to Poetry, 13th ed., Pearson, 2010, pp. 87–88.
"The Fish" is filled with intense imagery, there is an image brought to mind with every line of things that are beautiful such as flowers, or more brutal such as the many hooks found on the fishes lip. The narrator is telling the story of how they "caught a tremendous fish" while giving a vivid description of it to the audience, they give us a glimpse into the previous ventures and feelings of this fish. The narrator is admiring this fish by listing every color that she sees with vivid descriptions matching everyday items or things that people can compare these too. Catching the fish was joyous, and the colors beautiful, this fish had become a rainbow.
In this poem, the author uses visual, auditory, and sensory imagery.
The poem starts out with visual imagery, the description of the fish through colors and objects (brown skin, like wallpaper, pink swim-bladder, etc.). Then auditory imagery comes in when the fish is gasping for air, "While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen" the audience could picture the sounds of the fish flopping and trying to return to the water. Sensory imagery is used within the lines through specific words grim, wet, crimpled, rusted etc.
As "The Fish" progresses throughout each detail, the fish becomes easier to visualize, each detail creates an even bigger and detailed image with each line. With each new detail that the author gives the picture begins to show the beauty and ugliness of this fish through the imagery she uses. Everything is described, the boat, the hook, the lure, the fish, etc. it gives the reader the feeling that they are on this boat experiencing this catch with the narrator. Lines five-eight allow you to sympathize with the fish:
"He didn't fight.
He hadn't fought at all.
He hung a grunted weight, battered and venerable and homely…."
This begins to help build the relationship with the fish, at first the fish is a captured helpless creature allowing the reader to feel sorry for the fish. The relationship then starts to become personal between the narrator and the fish: "I looked into his eyes", "They shifted a little, but not to return my stare." this shows that they are beginning to understand one another. Although the fish is helpless in the situation gasping for air "breathing in the terrible oxygen" it has gotten past this obstacle before. The fish has already had "five old pieces of fish-line" on his lower lip. The relationship then becomes a kind of admiration for the fish for still being alive after surviving being caught five other times. With respect and admiration, the narrator releases the fish, allowing both to grow from the experience.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "An Introduction to Poetry." An Introduction to Poetry, 13th ed., Pearson, 2010, pp. 87–88.