TheFish

1. TheFish - By Elizabeth Bishop

2. Introduction about the Poem • A narrative poem told in I person • about a woman catches a fish on a rented boat • Goes through series of stages having look at the fish • Internal struggle between whether to let the fish go or not • closely related to slavery

3. A tremendous fish • Compares fish to old soldier with war medals • It doesn’t struggle but hangs from line of defeat • Gains the utmost respect for battle-worn creature of the sea • Has five battle lines dangling from his lip • Fought atleast 5 battles with fishing poles of the sea on its back

4. Appearance of the fish • An old fish • The brown skin hung in strips, from the whip of his master • Looks malformed and diseased • Looks like a old warrior against slavery • Has torned the internal parts of the body and so many ailments • Appearance invokes us to set free for it gains sympathy and respect

5. The fisher’s feeling • Conscience is conflicted • Dilemma in making decisions to set free the old fish • Shows respect and sympathy towards the fish • Felt like victorious in catching the fish • First received detachment , then intrigue & finally mercy • Personified the old fish as a old soldier

6. Analysis • Bishop uses personification by calling ‘him’ instead of ‘it’ • Creates not the image of fish but expands the scope of poet’s appreciation • Uses technique of hyperbole stating fish eyes’ are bigger than her own • Uses rhetorical & sound devices, as well as metaphor, tone, symbolism, simile & imagery • Uses abundant description & vivid imagery to visualize the fish

7. Message i) About the respect for age, experience & the sanctity of life ii) Come face-to-face with our own mortality, when we come to face-to-face with someone else’s death