Catch The Moon Analysis

In the short stories “Catch the Moon” by Judith Ortiz and “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D Wetherell we are introduced to Luis Cintron, a teenage boy who unfortunately lost his mom and now has a reputation as a “bad kid” as a result of him not knowing how to cope with the loss of his mother. In the second short story we are introduced to the narrator who loves to fish but the girl he is trying to impress despises and now he has a big decision to make. As the story progresses in “Catch the Moon” Luis’s life takes a turn when he meets Noemi during a business call. Luis starts liking Noemi and she fills the hole that his mother left when she died by showing him how to love therefore, changing his mentality and his behavior. In the
“There was a summer in my life when the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Sheila Mant”(Pg.245). He tries anything to impress her but she does not notice him. He ends up asking her out on a date to go see a band and when she says yes he is overjoyed. When it is time to go see the band, the narrator docks his canoe near the Mant residence and sets up his fishing rod and picks up Sheila. As the story progresses the narrator baits what he believes to be a huge bass fish and he finds out that Sheila despises fishing and now he is faced with a big decision of catching the fish and possibly losing Sheila or cutting the line and continue the date with Sheila. Wanting to continue the date with Sheila he cuts the line and makes the biggest sacrifice of his beloved fishing career. When they arrive she ends up leaving him for a before mentioned Eric Coswell and he soon ends up regretting letting the bass go. “There would be other Sheila Mants in my life, other fish, and though I came close once or twice, it was these secret, hidden tuggings in the night that claimed me, and I never made the same mistake again”.(Pg.250) The theme of the story is the love of something will give you