Analysis Of Elizabeth Bishops The Fish English Literature Essay

“The Fish” was written by Elizabeth Bishop who lived from 1911- 1979. The title “The Fish” gives the reader an idea of what the poem will be about. You can’t tell the happenings in the poem from the title, but you can tell that it will include a fish in one way or another. The title is also very simple, and when the poem the structure used and the story itself is also simple. To keep with the free flowing feel of the poem there are no rigid rhyme schemes. The poem uses point of view to help explain the theme of the story: it is possible for a person to tell someone, or something’s, life by the way they carry themselves and the scars they have.

After getting a glimpse into the fish’s life, the poem ends when the fisherman lets the fish go. The reason the fisherman let the fish go can be for several reasons. Most likely the fisherman felt that it was an honor to catch the fish and it would be dishonorable to keep a fish that the fisherman sees as a fellow warrior in the rough waters. The fisherman’s feelings are the most evident when he thinks, “I stared and stared / and victory filled up / the little rented boat” (Bishop 66-68).The main character in this story is the fish, but the narrator is the fisherman. The whole poem is the fisherman’s actions and thoughts, therefore; there is no dialogue in the poem. The fisher’s actions show the fact that the fisher has been touched by the sight of the fish.

The poem is made up of seventy- six lines. The lines are not separated into stanzas but arranged in a continuous free form. There is no discerning rhyme scheme to try and figure out, and there is no rigid structure. The poem does not have words or sounds words that continue to repeat themselves. The only thing that is continually referred to is the fish. The free form of the poem can be seen as a foreshadowing that the fisherman sets the fish free at the end of the story. There is symbolism, metaphors, and personification in the poem though.

Symbolism can be found several times in the poem. For instance the rainbow that appears in the water right before the fisher lets the fish go. The rainbow can be seen as a symbol that represents the compassionate feelings that prompts the fisher to release the fish. Another time is when the fisher says that the hooks caught in the fish’s jaw are, “Like medals with their ribbons /

frayed and wavering” (Bishop 61-62). We are able to determine that the fisher has begun to respect the fish and his past endeavors. A great metaphor in the story is “his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper” The metaphor in this line refers to the skin of the fish and how it looked liked old wallpaper.

The fish is being personified throughout the whole poem. When the fish is first caught it is just a fish. By the end of the poem the fish is transformed from a normal fish to a noble veteran of the waters. The fisher stopped seeing the fish as just an animal, but the fish becomes almost human like. The fish’s personification begins when the fisherman looks into the fish’s eyes, at this moment the fisher begins to sympathize with the fish. The personification continues as the fisherman looks at the fish more. The end result is the fisher having the feeling that the fish has been through a lot and should be treated with dignity and respect.

The poem describes how a fisherman’s admiration for a fish can affect him. The fisherman is the catalyst for the reader to “see” the fish. We as readers never hear what the fisherman does or what noises the fish made. We only get to see the fish through the fisherman’s eyes. If we were to see this same fish we might not see the fish the same way, but that is what makes this poem so good. It takes an everyday accordance and allows the reader a glimpse into the life of a fisherman. At the same time the fisher man gets to see a glimpse of the fish’s life.