Symbolism In 'Good Brother'

In the story “Good, Brother”, the fish heads symbolize the lives of both brothers and serve as a representation of the life they love so much in the dirty river town. When faced with the reality of having to move to another town, the reader gets a glimpse of the importance the fish play in the story. At first, it seems like a childlike game when hammering fish heads to the pole, but later a deeper meaning emerges. We see how important the fish are to the boy when the storyteller remarks, “we didn’t know what we were going to or how we were going to stay, until we looked outside and saw our fish” (Markus 266). Later, one brother anchors the other brother’s hands to the pole in an act that seems like one of defiance but is actually one of helplessness. Totem poles are popular in some countries as a representation of life and death and personal accomplishments. In this story, the pole the brothers seems to be in parallel with a Native American totem pole.
Hollowells, “A History of Everything, Including You” moved quickly in this story, from describing the formation of the universe to
A voice from inside the womb guides the unborn pups through the pre-birth process of life. Once born, they begin to look for the trail that the voice tells them will lead them to life (Paschal 179). Throughout the first part of the story, the voice seems to be a human voice, and the puppies are speaking as if they are human children. I did not realize until mid-story that it was coming from the perspective of the puppies. Ultimately, the story shows us that life is within us and is what we make of it; that is the only true meaning of life. At the end of the story, the puppies found their true meaning, which is love and togetherness. One puppy made the observation that while they did not find a trail or life, “everything was ok because my brother was with me and we were snuggled together” (Paschal