The Fish Analysis

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop Bishop uses literary devices, especially similes, metaphors, tone, and imagery to convey her theme of admiration for survivors of life’s difficult battles, in this case the fish, although at first she failed to admire and appreciate the fish. Bishop also doesn’t realize how beautiful the fish is at first, but she eventually finds beauty in the fish. Bishop’s tone of aloofness in lines 5-10 shows that first she is disappointed in what she thought was a big catch. He didn’t fight. He hadn’t fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, Battered and vulnerable and homely.
She states that the fish “didn’t fight. He hadn’t fought at all” conveying a surprised tone, like she thought it would be more of a struggle to catch such a good fish, and she almost sounds disappointed that the catch was so effortless. She refers to the fish as “battered and vulnerable” showing that she thinks of the fish as weak, and proving that she doesn’t at first realize how much the fish has been through and accomplished in life. At this point she feels more pity than she does admiration for the fish. As the poem goes on and the author continues to observe the fish, the details become more elaborate, through the use of similes the reader can gather that the author is slowly starting to appreciate the fish. His brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper: shapes like full-blown roses
In lines 11-14 above Bishop uses three similes, the first comparing the skin of the fish to ancient wallpaper, perhaps to convey the image that the skin looks like it has been through a lot of hardship. She then uses the other two similes to compare the skin to wallpaper once again, but this time to admire the beauty of the patterns and shapes she sees in the skin even though it is tattered and peeling like wallpaper.
In lines 22-25 the author helps the reader visualize the fish as tough by using imagery While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen -the frightening gills, fresh and crisp with blood that can cut so badly-
She states that his gills were “breathing in the terrible oxygen” showing that he is still surviving although he is doing something that could kill him, something only a true survivor can do. She also refers to the gill as “frightening” and says they can “cut so badly” proving that she is starting to see where the fish can actually defend itself in some way, and that she no longer finds the fish incompetent. When she states that the gills are “crisp and fresh with blood”, the reader can truly imagine the fish as an injured warrior that is still trying to survive.
In line 27 “I thought of the course white flesh packed in like feathers” bishop uses a simile to show how she imagined the flesh of the fish she couldn’t see in comparison to feathers, which can be considered beautiful. She also uses a simile in lines 33 and 34, saying the “pink swim bladder is like a big peony” which compares the bladder of the fish to a flower. Although she can’t see the bladder, just like she couldn’t see the flesh of the fish, she is imagining it as something beautiful such as a flower.
In lines 34-41 the author actually looks into the eyes of the fish: I looked into his eyes which were far larger than mine but shallower, and yellowed, the irises backed and packed with tarnished tinfoil seen through the lenses of old scratched isinglass. They shifted a little, but not to return my stare. -It was more like the tipping Of an object toward the light.
She refers to the eyes of the fish as “yellowed” and uses a metaphor “the irises backed and packed with tarnished tinfoil” which compares the dull surface of the color part of the eye to tinfoil that has lost some of its shine. They eye of the fish is still beautiful, but it is now the eye of someone or something that has been through some battles so they may not shine as bright. The second metaphor used in the lines above compares the eyes of the fish to “old scratched isinglass” which is a white glass that doesn’t let light through. She probably compared the fish’s eye to this glass because he wouldn’t look her directly in the eyes. It was almost like he didn’t want to let her inside, because she also says his eyes shifted but “not to return her stare. It was almost like the tipping of an object toward the light.”

When the poet is really admiring the fish near the end of the poem (lines 45-63) is when she truly realizes the battles and hardships that the fish has faced in its lifetime, and she actually starts to appreciate the fish for what it is worth. I admired his sullen face, the mechanism of his jaw, and then I saw that from his lower lip -if you call it a lip- grim, wet, and weaponlike, hung five old pieces of fish-line, of four and a wire leader with the swivel still attached, with all their five big hooks grown firmly in his mouth. a green line, frayed at the end where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine black thread still crimped from the strain and snap when it broke and he got away. like medals with their ribbons-, frayed and wavering In these lines the author sees where this fish has been caught before, possibly multiple times, and has gotten away and survived. She uses a simile comparing the lip of the fish to a weapon, by calling it weapon- like, perhaps because he has been like a warrior and warriors carry weapons. The fish used his lip to break free from the fishing lines, causing him to become a wise survivor. Another simile the author uses in these lines is when she compares the broken fishing lines that are still in the lip of the fish, from where he broke away, to medals and ribbons. She is trying to imply that the fish is a winner of his battles, and even has battle scars to prove it which act as awards.
In line 64 “A five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw” the author compares the broken fishing lines to a five haired beard of wisdom (using a metaphor). Bishop also completely conveys her feeling that the fish is wise, a use of personification, giving a fish the humanlike ability to be wise. In lines 66-76 the author decides to let the fish go: I stared and stared And victory filled up The little rented boat, From the pool of bilge Where oil had spread a rainbow Around the rusted engine To the bailer rusted orange, The sun-cracked thwarts, The oarlocks on their strings The gunnels- until everything Was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go.
The author is now starting to enjoy her triumph and realize how catching such a big fish was a great achievement for her. Then she uses imagery to give the reader a complete visual of the boat. Some examples of the imagery used in these lines are “the pool of bilge”, “the rusted engine” which gives off the visual that the boat is old and worn out similar to the fish, and “sun-cracked thwarts” which also lets the reader visualize an old boat that has been in the sun a lot. The final line “Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!” is a metaphor comparing the oily surface of the water to a rainbow. The author also uses repetition here to emphasize to the reader that she is seeing beauty (the rainbow) everywhere after realizing what she has about the fish. This line was a great lead up to her letting the fish go.
Bishop uses imagery throughout the entire poem to help the reader visualize the true beauty of the fish.
I caught a tremendous fish…
Pattern of darker brown skin was like wallpaper, shapes like full blown roses
He was speckled with barnacles… the coarse white flesh, packed in like feathers the big bones and the little bones… the dramatic reds and blacks of his shiny entrails… the pink swim-bladder like a big peony his eyes which were far larger than mine mechanism of his jaw… his lower lip’
All of these uses of imagery help to convey the theme that the author is beginning to admire the beauty in fish in which did not find beautiful at first. By the end of the poem the reader is able to gather that the author at first did not think much of the fish, however, she has admiration for survivors of life’s battles, so she ends up respecting the fish and even saving his life. The author also comes to find the true beauty in the fish, beauty in which she did not see at first.