Understanding ‘The Fish’
Report
‘The Fish’ by Elizabeth Bishop is a free form poem where the poet does a spectacular job in describing that occur from the moment she catches a fish to the time she releases it after a chain of rather interesting events. At the beginning of the poem, Bishop creates an image of a helpless fish which is held captive by the narrator in the poem. In doing so, she is able to lead the audience into feeling sorry for the fish and the situation described in the poem in general. She starts off by describing the fish’s ‘skin’, its gills, jaw, white flesh and lip to create an image in the audiences mind of the fish in question and to help them develop an attachment with the fish (Bishop 463). She further uses her imagination to remove the flesh of the fish, revealing its inner contents which she mentions as different parts, a move that could be described as her visualizing the fish as different parts that could be used for various purposes. However, as the events transpire, Bishop eventually develops a relationship with the fish as is seen by the events that occur.
The relationship develops further and becomes more personal especially when she into the fish’s eyes and describes how the fish stares back at her (Bishop 463). The decision to look into the fish’s eyes is an important point in the poem because it is at this point that she is able to identify with the human existence with the existence of the fish. Since the audience is reading the poem and following the narrator’s actions, the audience’s relationship with the fish further develops in line with that of the narrator. As the narrator continues to stare at the fish, its interdependent existence becomes clearer to her (Bishop 463). She reaches a higher admiration level for the fish when she notices the five hooks still attached to the fish’s jaw. The hooks are an indication that the fish had been caught five other times yet still managed to get away. Such a realization is also clear to the audience whose relationship develops even more out of admiration of a fish that had been caught five other times, got away and was still alive.
The narrator describes the hooks attached to the fish’s jaw as ‘badges of courage’ (Bishop 463) which help the audience to have an understanding of the type of life that the fish had lived and still persevered. Bishop uses a lot of imagery and a well delivered description that acts as a tool that is successful in getting the audience to develop a great admiration for something as simple as a fish. Later on, she decides to the set the fish free, and this occurs after she is able to identify herself within the fish. The identification with the fish solidifies the belief that nature is and has always been an ecological system where the existence of one element is greatly determined by other elements occurring in nature (Bishop 464). Towards the end of the poem, the audience can see that the ship used by the narrator had been in use for a long time resulting to its beaten up state. Despite it leaking oil and its engine having rusted over the years, it is on this ship that the narrator managed to catch the fish.
The narrator tries to show certain events that some people consider a blessing may cause harm to others. Oxygen for example is described as a poisonous substance that causes a lot of distress for the fish when it is brought half way out of the water (Bishop 463). In most cases however, human beings would describe oxygen as a necessity and a wonderful thing to have since they need it to live. The narrator thus shows how killing the fish could result to more negative repercussions. She therefore uses the image of a rainbow to indicate that a transition has occurred and that the narrator has reached another level of awareness. Out of the displeasing description of the ship and the act of catching such a tremendous fish, the narrator uses the rainbow to show that good things can come out of a bad situation (Bishop 464). When she decides to set the fish free, she is able to not only save its life but also gains a better understanding of life.
Essay
In the poem ‘The Fish’, the use of short lines and the presence of enjambments indicate that the poet, Bishop, is giving her own thoughts. This form of poetry gives the impression that the poet is not simply writing the words on a piece of paper but is rather speaking them out loud. The poem is presented in a way that the audience feels as if the poet was present at the scene and was narrating the events that occurred throughout the poem (Bishop 463). The poem is also written as a single stanza. The decision to write it this way may have been in an attempt to portray the long ordeal that fishermen engage in when fishing. In doing so, bishop is able to prepare the audience for the poem and to make sure that it resonates with the act of fishing itself. The poem is also full of imagery that is very vivid and a lot of description which help the audience to visualize what is being narrated in the poem (Bishop 463). Through the narration, tone and imagery used, the audience is led into creating a bond with the fish. This bond is essential as it is through it that the audience develops the same admiration towards the fish as the narrator does and appreciates the plight that the fish has endured. The audience thus creates a vivid mental picture, one that makes them believe that the actions really happened and thus grows to respect not only the narrator, but also the fish (Bishop 463).
In the beginning of the poem, the narrator creates an intense image of the fish by describing it as being tremendous, venerable, battered and homely. Such a description leads the audience into sympathizing with the fish especially for people who have ever been fishing. The narrator later compares the fish to a household object that is familiar to most, if not all of the audience. “Here and there / his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper, / and its pattern of darker brown / was like wallpaper” (Bishop 463). By using two similes that have a common object, the Bishop manages to create sympathy for the fish that is being held captive. Using the wall paper to describe the fish creates a personal image of its appearance (Bishop 463). Wallpapers are something common and most of the audience can relate because they either own or have seen one. The analogy of an ancient wall paper is used to give an idea of how old the fish was. Even though the wall paper was old and faded, it had managed to overcome various challenges and withstand the various adversities. The narrator uses this as an indicator that the fish had endured a lot of challenges yet still came out strong.
Ironically, Bishop describes oxygen, something that is essential for our survival, as being terrible because of what it does to the fish when it is taken out of water (Bishop 463). She describes it as being terrible so as to help the audience visualize how the fish gasped for breath and fought against the oxygen. The fish’s gills were also described as being frightening despite the role they play in safeguarding its survival. The descriptions help to create an image of the fish and how big it was so that the audience can understand what an achievement the narrator had done in catching it. Describing it as having “coarse white flesh packed in like feathers” (Bishop 463) intensifies the views that the audience has of the fish to a level where they can relate to the events that were occurring in the poem.
The narrator was also able to relate to the fish on a more personal basis when she stared into its eyes and admired its jaws and face (Bishop 464). The intense diction used allows the audience to develop a tone of respect especially when the narrator goes down to the level of the fish creating more respect for the situation that the fish is in. the fish’s stare is described as that of an object that has tipped to the direction where there is light allowing the audience to connect deeper with the fish and the narrator in the poem. The well described lip of the reader personifies the fish making it more real to the audience. As bishop describes how the fish’s lips have grown around the hooks, the audience sees them as part of the fish (Bishop 464). The hooks are then seen as medals won by the fish after the various escapes made from other fishermen who attempted to catch it. The fish is considered wise and having achieved great fetes which in turn demands more respect from the audience.
According to Bishop, the fish has a lot of wisdom and endurance which is why it was able to escape from being caught five times (Bishop 464). The survival of the fish is thus seen as the endurance of nature and its ability to persevere despite the adverse challenges that may occur. It is also a statement demonstrating that despite humans’ various harmful activities, nature will always emerge victorious and continue thriving. Out of either bravery or wisdom, the fish did not put up a fight when caught by the narrator (Bishop 464). This may have been as a result of its various encounters with fishermen. In its old beaten up state, the narrator would have felt sympathetic and simply let the fish go. Its body was also in a bad condition, filled with strings and wires. The narrator was able to grasp the concept that, no matter how badly human beings abused nature, it would still continue to thrive like the fish had done.
The state that the fish was in led the narrator into developing a deeper appreciation for the situation she was in. for a moment, the narrator took her attention from the ship to the ship she was using. It was old and beaten up with oil dripping into the lake, making a rainbow as it came into contact with the water (Bishop 464). Bishop uses the image of the rainbow as it is regarded by most, if not all of the audience as a symbol for hope in the future. The belief in the rainbow as a sign for hope for a better future can be traced down to biblical times when God sent a rainbow as a sign to Noah that the floods that occurred after forty days and nights of rain were over. The rainbow thus symbolized that the fish would no longer suffer under the hands of the narrator as it is at this point that she decided to set it free (Bishop 464).
The fish also leads the narrator into realizing that human beings are not the only intelligent species. As most people would assume, catching a fish is an easy tasks especially because not many fish can escape the hooks used by fishermen. In the poem, there is evidence that the fish was able to escape after being capture five times. This is proof that man is yet to fully conquer nature especially when a simple creature like a fish escapes with hooks and adorns them as medals. It is this realization that dawns down on the narrator and she decides to set the fish free. Had she decided to kill the fish and keep her catch, she would have ignored all that she had learnt and failed to benefit from what the experience had taught her. She however decided to set it free, in the hope that it would have the same effect on the next fisherman that manages to catch the fish.
Work cited
Bishop E, “The Fish” 1917
