The Fish Flashcards
Bishop is proud of that she caught this fish. First person makes it personal, a memory
I caught a tremendous fish
She was surprised by the fact it didn’t fight her, it accepted its fate and conceded to her, a noble defeat of knowing when to give up. Seemed like it could be an extraordinary fighter but instead looked tired and done
He didn’t fight.
He hadn’t fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,
battered and venerable
Simile. Use of colour. His skin was torn to shreds, kind of horrifying to think about
his brown skin hung in strips
like ancient wallpaper
It is an old fish that has lost its beauty through its battle of age and experience
shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
Grotesque image of this glorious creature acting as a host to parasites
infested
with tiny white sea-lice
Oxymoron. We need oxygen to survive but to a fish it is poison. Enjambment highlights how awful the oxygen is
his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
Bishop seems to admire the power of the fish but this image of power is tainted by the fact that he is wounded from being caught
the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood.
She imagines the fish’s insides and all of the colours circulating inside it. She seems to be entranced by it. 2 quotes
1) I thought of the coarse white flesh
2)the dramatic reds and blacks
of his shiny entrails
Bishop wishes to look this incredible creature in the eye. She notices everything about it. Age or illness has tainted them also
I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed
Bishop sees the damage she has done to the fish within its eyes. Metaphor. Its eyes are no longer new and bright but ruined by all that it has seen and suffered
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
The fish refused to meet her gaze. It did not want to look its foe in the eye as it accepted its own fate. The beginning of her epiphany that possibly the fish shouldn’t die today
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare
Bishop is struck by utter admiration for the fish. It is strong like a machine but still can feel emotion
I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw
Bishop realises that this fish has been victorious 5 times before and is a survivor. Illustrates the horrors of humanity as the fish’s flesh has been forced to heal around the hooks
all their five big hooks
grown firmly in his mouth.
Bishop sees the brutality of fishing, as demonstrated with the use of 3. The fish was caught before and survived
grim, wet, and weapnlike,
hung five old pieces of fish-line
Bishop seeing the battles of the fish previously. The battles that he won. The battles of different strengths. Colour used here also.
A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
and a fine black thread
This fish is a soldier, a survivor. It wears the fishing lines like badges of honour. They illustrate his horrifying history. Simile
Like medals with their ribbons
frayed and wavering,
a five-haired beard of wisdom
The fish is old and his battles have had a long term effect on him
his aching jaw
Moment of epiphany. She too had caught this tremendous fish and come out on top. Achieved her goal. She has a connection with this fish
victory filled up
the little rented boat
Bishop’s emotions totally overwhelm her. She is filled with joy, depicted through colour. She’s ecstatic
until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
Bishop was in control. She related to the fish (maybe it was a metaphor fir Bishop in life) so she cannot bring herself to kill it. It has survived this long and this many battles, she doesn’t want to be the one to end it
And I let the fish go.
