The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish” begins with a straightforward declarative statement; the poem’s speaker informs us that they caught a fish “and held him beside the boat / half out of water, with my hook / fast in a corner of his mouth” (Lines 2-4). The fish is said to be “tremendous,” and the reader gets the sense of its large size when told that held beside the boat it is still half submerged. “Tremendous” also suggests a more intangible quality, however, such as wonderful or impressive. However despite its large size, the fish is surprisingly passive and “didn’t fight” (Line 5), which seems remarkable to the speaker, particularly since they repeat this observation for emphasis saying, “He hadn’t fought at all” (Line 6). This lack of fight surprises the speaker and may even taint the catch with having been too easy. Ironically, some of the language Bishop uses to describe the caught fish who “hung a grunting weight” (Line 7) conjures the image of a war veteran, “battered and venerable” (Line 8), and weakened by age. This shabby image of the “homely” (Line 9) fish also recalls an old, dilapidated house with his “brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper” (Lines 10-11) covered in fading rosette-shaped barnacles, and draped with “rags of green weed” (Line 21) that recalls the growth of untended ivy.

While still holding the fish aloft, the speaker examines it closely, describing its parts in exacting detail. This holding at arm’s length, coupled with the poet’s image-heavy wordcraft,gives a sense of the otherness of the fish, as if it is a strange object. The result is an alienation from and a defamiliarization of the fish. A confrontation between two very different beings, the human and the fish, plays out in the poem. Bishop underscores this by using images of the harm that one could inflict easily on the other—how the air is like poison to the fish’s gills, and how those same gills are sharp enough to slice the speaker’s flesh (Lines 22-26). In addition, the metaphorical language used to describe the fish is meant to evoke the dilapidation and decay that comes with old age, calling to mind how the passage of time can render even something once familiar unrecognizable and repugnant.

Bishop’s starting point, the defamiliarization of the fish and the associations she makes between its appearance and seemingly disparate things such as “old wallpaper” (Lines 11-13), “rags” (Line 21), flowers (Lines 14, 17, and 33), and “feathers” (Line 28), serves to reinforce the strangeness of a creature most people take for granted as fairly familiar. It is exactly because the reader thinks of fish as commonplace that one does not observe it with fresh eyes the way that Bishop does. In this way, the poet demonstrates that even the familiar can be strange and exciting, if looked at it closely enough. With the eye of a scientist, the speaker examines their catch and tries to get at the truth of the fish’s being. The poet believes it is a mystery worth confronting and comprehending, and one that is arrived at through the drama of observation. In other words, her close and insistent examination of the object—one may even call it interrogation——is at the crux of a poem crafted to bring the reader to revelation.

Midway through the poem, a shift in perspective ultimately leads to a final revealed truth. This change comes when the speaker turns her probing gaze to the fish’s face. When she looks into its eyes, she sees them turn somewhat, not to lock eyes with her, but a subtler movement, “more like the tipping / of an object toward the light” (Lines 41-44). While focusing on the five hooks embedded in the fish’s mouth from others’ previous attempts at catching it, the tone shifts, and the speaker pivots to admiration and empathy for the creature (Lines 50-64). The speaker sees the five broken fishing lines as an indication of the fish’s strength and character, his determination and will to survive. Suddenly, the signs of age and dilapidation become marks of wisdom and valor, shifting the paradigm for both speaker and reader.

The poem’s revelation is that through observation and openness, a sense of otherness can give way to profound connection, even to something as simple as a fish. Bishop uses the term “victory” (Line 66) to convey this thrill and connection to the universal struggles of living creatures to survive and persist. This victory, which “filled up / the little rented boat” (Lines 66-67)infuses the speaker’s humble surroundings as well; the sun-cracked boat characterized by the “pool of bilge / where oil had spread a rainbow / around the rusted engine / to the bailer rusted orange” (Lines 68-71) echoes the humble description of the fish in the opening lines of the poem. The speaker’s own humble vessel (both literally and perhaps figuratively) is equally filled with this victory of connection. By identifying with the fish, the speaker shares in the fish’s victory, as the rainbow created by light playing on oil at the bottom of the boat symbolizes that shared victory. Because of this moment of profound connection between speaker and fish, the speaker releases the fish, giving it a sixth victory over death. However, the speaker has “caught” a greater prize, capturing the essence of the fish and acquiring a deeper understanding of survival for both animals and humans. In this way both the speaker and the fish have won.