The narrator had a tough choice to make between the girl of his dreams and the fish of a life time. There are many reasons that lead me to believe the narrator will pick the girl. He has loved her for a long time. The narrator and the girl have cabin lots next door to each other, and he has been watching her for many summers now. He knows what her family does and longs to be part of their parties. If he has a chance to be part of her life and the fun the fun that goes with it, I think he won’t pass it up for a fish. Another reason I think he’ll pick the girl over this fish is because of how closely he watches her. He watches her so closely that he knows her moods. He knows that if she laid on the diving board with her hand in the …show more content…
If she was propped up on her arm, she was observant. For him to watch her that closely and know so much about her moods without ever talking to her shows how much he really likes Sheila and leads me to believe he will indeed choose her over a fish. In addition to watching her and studying her, the narrator tries to impress the girl. He dives off the dock and does laps, so she will notice him. It’s a rare opportunity for the narrator to get a chance with a girl like Sheila and even though he loves fishing, it seems he might pick her over a fish. Anyone who goes to such great lengths to watch, study, and impress a girl will probably chose her over a fish when given the opportunity. Even though Sheila is a great opportunity for a love-sick and obsessed teenage boy, there are several reasons why the narrator might choose the fish over Sheila. First of all, the narrator is obsessed with fishing. He is so obsessed that he spends his time practice casting in his driveway. He casts for his dog. He also knows all there is to know about fish. Only a person who is obsessed with fishing would know the scientific name for a bass is Micropterus salmoides. Furthermore, the narrator also knows the habits of the fish, where they swim,
I surmise that he will choose the Bass, but there are many reasons as to why he would pick Shelia as well. The Narrator is extremely intrigued by fishing, and this is one reason why I believe he will choose the Bass. He has purchased name brand fishing equipment, and just loves to talk about Large Mouth Bass and fishing in general. He also states in the text, “I never went anywhere that summer without a fishing rod.” This statement clearly shows his devotion and love of the sport. I consider another reason is that he is quite knowledgeable about Bass. In the story, he is able to tell by just a “splash” that a Large Mouth Bass is swimming in the river. He also knows what types of food the fish typically eat and how to catch them. The last point I am going to make is the fact that the Narrator has always had the experience of fishing, and the love for the sport. The Narrator shares how he fishes all summer long and how the Bass, currently on his line, was the most extraordinary fish that he has seen to date. Even though he may lose Shelia if he reels in the fish, that may just be a risk that the narrator is willing to take. There are also many reasons as to why the Narrator may pick Shelia over the Bass. The boy has been
In "The Bass, the River, and Shelia Mant", the speaker fell in love with a beautiful girl named Shelia Mant, which was the only thing that he loved more than fishing. He watched her everyday sunbathing on the dock. He watched her so much that he learned what mood she was in by the position she was laying. When the summer was almost over he got up enough nerve to ask her out. To his surprise she said yes. They went to see a band, however, since he was only fourteen they took a canoe. While rowing the canoe he had his fishing pole on the back, because he never left the house without it. Little did he know that Shelia thought fishing was dumb. So, during the entire canoe ride he is trying to hide the fishing pole, which is hanging o...
Is sacrificing passion for a special someone the best thing in the long run? In the story “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” written by W.D. Wetherell the young and naive narrator chooses a girl over his life long love of fishing. Wetherell uses internal conflicts with the narrator to increase the conflict and suspense. Due to Sheila Mant’s shallow personality and impulsive opinion the narrator lets the biggest fish he has ever caught go because he is afraid of what she will think of him. The narrator’s feelings for Sheila Mant go away and it makes him regret his decision of letting the fish go. In the story “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant the narrator made a long term decision on temporary feelings and emotions.
"The Fish" was written to provoke a point while giving the reader a powerful set
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
To elaborate, after the narrator asks Sheila on a date, he brings his fishing rod because he never went anywhere that summer "without a fishing rod" revealing that fishing is what he likes to do and is important to him. He adds when he wasn't trying to impress Sheila Mant, he "was fishing the river for bass" explaining that he spends a lot of time fishing and he enjoys it very much. Before Sheila Mant, fishing has been his true passion. Nonetheless, the narrator becomes torn between Sheila and fishing. During the date, as the narrator discusses fish, Sheila pronounces that she believes "fishing's dumb" which created a dilemma with the narrator because fishing is what he cherished as extremely as Sheila. His rash desire masks his true passion and provokes the narrator to hide his passion from Sheila. Furthermore, the narrator hooks the largest fish he has seen inside his fishing pole and realizes that "Sheila must not know" because he would have given anything not to "appear dumb in [her] eyes." His superficial values and hunger for Sheila cause him to hide his passion in exchange for the possibility of Sheila's love. His desire for Sheila forces him to try to seem sufficient enough Sheila's love even if it means endangering his passion. Instantly, the tug of Sheila was too great for him and he extracted a knife and "cut the line in half" forcing his passion
Watching Eddy fish, Gus absorbs a lot of information that before was totally unseen to him. Not only about fishing, but about this woman and about himself, needing to learn from her. He says on page 152 “I felt for the first time that I was in the presence of a fishing genius exceeding my own.” He is enthralled by her fishin...
“The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant,” written by W.D. Wetherell, tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy and the summer in which he met Sheila Mant. After weeks of failed attempts and longing for the older woman who seemed just out of his reach, the boy worked
The title of the poem itself dictates the simplicity Bishop wishes to convey regarding the narrator's view of his catch. A fish is a creature that has preceded the creation of man on this planet. Therefore, Bishop supplies the reader with a subject that is essentially constant and eternal, like life itself. In further examination of this idea the narrator is, in relation to the fish, very young, which helps introduce the theme of deceptive appearances in conjunction with age by building off the notion that youth is ignorant and quick to judge.
He teaches the kid what to do in order to successfully reel in a large, beautiful fish. Ironically, the narrator is the one who learns from the kid in the end. At the beginning of the story, everything is described negatively, from the description of the kid as a “lumpy little guy with baggy shorts” to his “stupid-looking ’50s-style wrap-around sunglasses” and “beat-up rod”(152). Through his encounter with the boy, the narrator is able to see life in a different way, most notable from how he describes the caught tarpon as heavy, silvery white, and how it also has beautiful red fins (154). Through the course of the story, the narrator’s pessimistic attitude changes to an optimistic one, and this change reveals how inspiring this exchange between two strangers is. This story as a whole reveals that learning also revolves around interactions between other people, not only between people and their natural surroundings and
In the poem “(love song, with two goldfish)” the love life of two individuals are portrayed as the lives of two fish. Their romance is failing as one lovers constant affection pushes the other away. In the end, one-sided love can only get them so far. The poet Grace Chua uses fish diction, strategically placed parentheses, and the symbol of the bowl in order to show how one's undying love can often leave them broken when their feelings are not reciprocated.
The short story explains the sustainability of life, how a negativity of a relationship can help one relate to the smallest symbolic things. The lesson of sustainability of life is more than just the life of the Fish. It was more upon the relationship between the parents. The owner of the fish was small and would not care for the fish, making the mother take care of it Reminiscing of her childhood fish; the mother also remembers how her father dumped her childhood fish in a Michigan river. The mother of the little boy still kept her act together even after the infidelity of her husband. She would compare it to her parent’s relationship. In a way, the negativity of both relationships made her compare her life to the fish in the tank. The mother “… felt awe at the fact that life was sustainable even under the most abhorrent conditions.” She felt that the fish was most likely going through the same stuff she was going through with her husband. After seeing Fish’s tank dirty, the little boy told his mother and assumed the fish was dead, little did he know the fish was not dead and that mother had cleaned the tank and moved it to the living room after signing the last papers of her divorce and saying farewell to her ex husband. At the end they all carried the fish “… where with a soft patter of congratulatory applause they’ll present Fish with a new home, right next to the television set.” She in a way explained Fish’s new life in a positive way ad for her life shall be the same. Overall the story compares to the human’s life and a fish’s life both very different, but in a way more similar than one can imagine. The topic of adultery is harsh, and the way individuals take it can either be calm or crazy. In my opinion she took her divorce calm and made her have a certain type of love back into her life. It is bazar to think that a fish’s situation gave the
The poet seems to share the same pain with the fish, observing the scene and enjoying the detail just like enjoying an artwork. The poet lets the fish go because she is totally touched by the process between life and death; she loves life but, meanwhile, is deeply hurt by the life. In the poem, the fish has no fear towards her; the desire to live is in the moving and tragic details when she faces the death.
Sometimes when decisions are made, they result in the most inconsidered consequence. In “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, the main character, a fishing fanatic, finally reels in a date with Sheila Mant, otherwise known as the woman of his dreams, who is uninterested with fishing. During the date, the main character rows Sheila down the river in a boat, where she states, “I think fishing is dumb, it’s boring and all, it’s just dumb.” (Wetherall 3). Meanwhile, an astronomical-sized fish is tugging on the main character’s line.
The first element to analyze when looking at “The Fish” is figurative language. The reader is drawn to this element because of its heavy emphasis throughout the poem. Elizabeth Bishop profusely uses similes with the intention of heightening the sensation of fishing. She writes: