The River Why - Eddy quotes

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Eddy

Eddy changes Gus in three different ways: when she directly interacts with him, by her absence and by her reappearance. On their first encounter with one another Gus is compelled by her differences in dress, techniques and gear. After she leaves, Gus feels a “need” to fulfill his empty life. Finally when she shows back up in his life, Gus then has everything he could ever ask for: a beautiful woman who loves to fish, just like him.

Page 151: “A barefoot girl. A full-grown one. One who wore the top tenth or so of what had long ago been a pair of blue jeans. One who wore a short, skin-tight, sleeveless sky-colored t-shirt through …which revealed the shape of the…”

Gus describes his first view Eddy, after having snuck his way up to the tree where she sat “motionless” not noticing him. His attention is soon diverted, if not completely towards her odd pole and gear. Lying to himself as he checked out this “research project” he notices how her gear is like nothing he had seen or used before, but his mind never full wonders from Eddy. (Page 151)

Page 151: “Her fishing equipment was innovative also; she appeared to have no creel or equipage or container of any kind apart form her pole and line and whatever was on the end of it. There was the possibility of a few spare hooks or leaders in the pockets of the fraction of blue jeans …but the theory grew tenuous…As to the possibility of fishing tackle concealed with in the sky-colored t-shirt, this was even less likely. Nevertheless I considered the problem long and carefully, scanning every least curve of the thin material, reluctant to give up the search.”

While Gus is checking her style out he realizes that Eddy was important and he needed to learn from her. He describes his sudden thirst for knowledge about Eddy as follows:
Page 150: “She must be an extraordinary person, well worth watching, well worth meeting, well worth thinking about, an exceptional fisherman, and I was, what I was, I was learning, yes learning: I was learning like crazy. I’d never learned so much so fast before…”

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...

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... a mouse could sing I just might see Eddy again.”

Along his journeys Gus comes across a writer for a newspaper article and made up a story to the over zealous, unskilled fisherman, who wrote about fishing. In the end of the article he put a note to Eddy.

Page 217: “Will the girl who ran form the guy who recited Izaak Walton I the tree please contact Gus on the other river he named. He has your rod and fish and wants to return them. He is totally harmless, but urges you to bring a loaded fun if frightened, as long as you come. Thank you.”

Through out his waiting and searching for Eddy he changes dramatically. He feels the need for his live to be fulfilled, and he strives for it by doing new things. He acquires a new load of friends and things from swapping, but he was sad for those who did not have what he could have and for other reasons.

Page 221: “…also because I had so much to share, but nobody to share it with.”

Then Gus goes into making her a rod like her old one, but with improvements. Like a 14 foot pole, belly reel with a waist strap and some good line in it. The hope still lives on to see her once again and he is striving to make a good impression on Eddy this time.

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