The Fish: Themes | SparkNotes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Awe-Inspiring Power of the Natural World

One of the key themes in “The Fish” relates to the awe-inspiring power of the natural world. The speaker of this poem is someone who pays close attention to the world around them. When they pull the fish out of the water, they describe what “he” looks like in precise detail, referencing the colors and textures that characterize his exterior as well as interior appearance. At several points, the speaker’s description of the fish communicates a sense of awe. And awe is indeed the word—meaning, as it does, a feeling of respect that is mixed with both fear and wonder. The speaker clearly feels both fear and wonder with regard to the fish. Take, for instance, the description of the fish as he gasps in the open air (lines 22–26):

his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
—the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood,
that can cut so badly

The specific use of the word “frightening” here registers the speaker’s fear at the sharpness of the gills. Yet it also reflects the speaker’s sense of wonder as they gaze at the gills’ gory vitality, “fresh and crisp with blood.” This mixture of fear and wonder persists throughout the rest of the poem.

The Resilience Required to Survive

Resilience is another key theme in “The Fish.” The figure in the poem most closely associated with resilience is the titular fish, which has survived to old age despite several near-death experiences. The speaker knows the fish has endured much hardship because of the five hooks they find lodged in his jaw. Each hook trails a bit of line that this fish had to break by thrashing his “grunting weight” (line 7) around in the water. The fish now sports these hooks like emblems of hard-won battles. Indeed, he wears them like a soldier might wear their medals, at once “battered and venerable” (line 8). The speaker clearly honors this fish and respects the resilience he’s needed to survive. They indicate as much in their ultimate decision to release the fish and let him survive another day. Although the fish is the most obvious figure of resilience in the poem, it’s worth noting that the speaker’s boat has also survived a lot. The engine is rusted, the wooden bench (or “thwart”) is cracked, and water’s seeping through the hull. Yet the speaker also honors the battered old boat, which has enabled their encounter with such a “tremendous fish” (line 1).

The Strange Familiarity of Nonhumans

Although the fish is a radically different kind of being, the speaker finds something about him strangely familiar. The fish’s strange familiarity becomes especially clear in the passage where the speaker describes his eyes in lines 34–44:

I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare.
—It was more like the tipping
of an object toward the light.

While attempting to make eye contact with the fish, the speaker begins by comparing the fish’s eyes with their own. This initial comparison leads the speaker to describe what’s distinct about the fish’s eyes. In addition to being larger than the speaker’s, they also have a completely different appearance, as if “backed and packed / with tarnished tinfoil” and “seen through the lenses / of old scratched isinglass.” Yet despite their radically different appearance, the speaker finds something familiar in the way the fish’s eyes shift around. The shifting eyes imply that the fish isn’t merely seeing but looking. It becomes clear, though, that the fish isn’t looking in an ordinary human way. Indeed, their eyes “shifted a little, but not / to return my stare.” Instead, the fish’s gaze shifts around uncannily, “like the tipping / of an object toward the light.” Though the fish’s eyes obviously differ from their own, the speaker still finds in them a touch of familiarity—just enough to suggest a strange cross-species kinship.