Analyzing Anu's Character In The Story 'Yellow Fish'

Sample Essay One In the story “Yellow Fish,” the main character is never directly described or mentioned. The reader must inference everything except their name, Anu. The author creates the character through reflections and other various techniques. Throughout the story, the writer uses very choppy sentences, as well as fragments, to represent Anu’s stream of consciousness. By doing this, the writer gives her a timid, scarred personality. By limiting the sentence structure, Ambai indirectly leads the reader to believe that Anu is depressed, and has faced tragedy in her life. The author does this to foreshadow the reflection on Anu’s loss of her child. The reflection itself also serves purpose to the author. Anu says, “The mouth of the urn.
By giving Anu these lines, Ambai reveals to the reader that Anu is absolutely traumatized by this occurrence, and felt as if the ashes in the urn were somehow still connected to the lost child. The author reveals this instance to portray to the reader whyAnu is the way that she has portrayed her to this point in the story. Finally, Ambai uses the yellow fish to show Anu’s sense of closure. By giving the fish similar characteristics to Anu’s lost daughter, the author creates an idea of salvation. By saving the fish, and sending it out into the sea, Ambai conveys to the audience that Anu feels her daughter is in a better place now. The fish takes “an arrogant leap” (79), which finalizes the idea that Anu feels that way. The author provides this closure to provide similar closure to the story. With Anu’s revitalization, the story comes to an end. Ambai creates the character Anu through a series of choppy sentences, a reflection as well as a metaphor. She takes her readers on a journey through tragedy, depression, and ultimately closure. These traits make Anu relatable and make the reader incredibly sympathetic to
The fish obviously represents the baby in this story, too, as seen in how both gasped for life giving oxygen. All of the feelings the audience infers that Anu has for the fish are felt for the child as well. The author also writes how the fish is helpless (76), much like Anu’s baby. By giving all of these feelings to Anu, the audience gets the sense that Anu is filled with grief and pain. Finally, Ambai gives Anu the trait of not fully being self-sustaining or capable. Anu is never able to provide for either the fish or Jalaja to keep them alive. When Jalaja is dying, Anu had to wait outside of her room, not able to do anything. When the yellow fish is dying, Anu is not even able to pick it up and throw it into the sea. This might connect back to the throwing of the ashes into the sea, as Anu might have too much sorrow. Not that she does not want to help; she tries a variety of tactics to help the yellow fish, but is ultimately handicapped in this regard. Ambai writes this to show how Anu is a caring person who has compassion on helpless creatures, but is helpless herself when it comes to fixing things. In the end, Anu is a mother who has suffered the loss of her child. By describing her actions with the fish, Ambai leads the audience to believe Anu is a woman who is trying to compensate for a failurethat was not necessarily hers, and wants to make up for it in any way, even if the life she saves is only that of a fish. Sample Essay Four The author characterizes