What Of This Goldfish Would You Wish Essay

The several stories that we have been reading in this class are al quite similar in many ways, ranging from characters, motivations, morals, and themes. “What of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret, is a story of a young boy who gets the idea to create a documentary about the wishes people if they were given the chance by a magical goldfish. The boy, Yonatan or Yoni, believes he can become rich and famous by filming this documentary. He knocks on the door of a Russian man by the name of Sergei, who he asks the question of what he would like to wish for. Sergei does not understand and ends up hitting Yoni on the head with a burner due to his panic attack. The goldfish convinces Sergei to use his last wish on saving the boy with the ring in his ear because he knows that the Russian will regret it later. Sergei was a kind man who cared for others’ well-being. He
used all of his wishes to save or improve people’s lives, which gives quite the list of words to describe him with. The goldfish seems to symbolize the voice of reason, or Sergei’s conscience. The overall message that this story gives is that right choices can sometimes lead to sacrificing for others. “The Wife’s Story” by Ursula K.
Le Guin, is a short story told by the narrator/wife meeting her husband and discovering a strange curse that has been in his family for generations. The wife is somebody who will protect her family by any means necessary, also similar to Sergei because he wants to protect the goldfish, even if it means killing someone or something. The wife does not want to believe that her husband, the father of their children, is some type of “white-skinned monster.” She tries to see if he’ll transform back into his old self but her husband intends to hurt her and her family, so she lashes out and forgets she ever had any love for her spouse. The husband, at first, is a kind and gentle soul who cares deeply for his family. The theme or moral of the story is something along the lines of the people we love are not always who they seem to be, sometimes giving us a false-sense of security. Throughout the story, several hints are dropped that the narrator is, in fact, not human. The readers are just so set on the characters being human, they ignore the odd writing style the author
uses. “A Wish Too Far” by Harris Tobias is a story of a fisherman who encountered a sea witch and was given wishes for finding her. His wife becomes overly greedy and takes advantage of the sea witch’s abilities. She ends up trapped in her house, courtesy of the witch, and calls for help but receiving none. The fisherman is a caring man who wants only the best, much like the husband in “The Wife’s Story.” The fisherman’s wife is a greedy woman who wants what she wants, not taking care for anyone’s needs. I would relate the fisherman’s wife to Sergei in “What of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?” because he wanted to save the wish for himself instead of using it to save a kid’s life. The sea witch seems to be cunning and cocky, relating her to the goldfish from the same story as before. They’re both quite intelligent and manipulative. The overall theme of “A Wish Too Far” is to be grateful for what you have and thankful for your family. Asking for what you don’t need is quite selfish and the wife got what she deserved.