The poem, “The Fish”, by Elizabeth Bishop focuses on providing a detailed explanation of a fish that the speaker has caught. Throughout the poem, the speaker incorporates her conflicted attitude towards the fish. The poem uses numerous literary devices such as imagery, paradox, diction, and tone to convey the thoughts and feelings behind the speaker’s changing perspective and to show its meaning because although the fish itself means very little literally, it serves as a symbol for the speaker’s realization that there is beauty in everything. One of the most prominent aspects of “The Fish” is its rich and emotion-evoking imagery. There are specific choice words such as “full-blown roses” and “the frightening gills,/ fresh and crisp with
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The word itself is a paradox, as it has multiple meanings including large, dreadful, and awful, yet amazing and great. This word perfectly describes the speakers changing viewpoint on the fish. As she described the fish’s physical features, it made her realize that it was rather beautiful for the looks that it was given. The fish may look tremendous in negative ways, but nevertheless, she thinks that it is still tremendous in its positive ways.
Similarly, the shifting tone throughout the poem is a paradox in itself. The fish is described in a manner that is unappealing, “grim, wet, she is respectful and in admiration of the fish that they have caught. By the time that the speaker has seen the hooks and line hanging from its mouth, the tone is joyous because they have come to the realization that the fish is beautiful. This newfound attitude and uplifted tone is carried on, for when the speaker notices the oil leaked into the water, it is a “rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”, not a pollutant. Although “The Fish” may appear to be a poem about an ordinary animal, it is actually deep and meaningful through its usage of imagery, diction, paradox, and tone. Almost every word has different meanings and can be interpreted in different ways. Through the speakers changing perspective, the reader is left with the idea that there is beauty all around us, it just takes opening the eyes to truly see
The word itself is a paradox, as it has multiple meanings including large, dreadful, and awful, yet amazing and great. This word perfectly describes the speakers changing viewpoint on the fish. As she described the fish’s physical features, it made her realize that it was rather beautiful for the looks that it was given. The fish may look tremendous in negative ways, but nevertheless, she thinks that it is still tremendous in its positive ways.
Similarly, the shifting tone throughout the poem is a paradox in itself. The fish is described in a manner that is unappealing, “grim, wet, she is respectful and in admiration of the fish that they have caught. By the time that the speaker has seen the hooks and line hanging from its mouth, the tone is joyous because they have come to the realization that the fish is beautiful. This newfound attitude and uplifted tone is carried on, for when the speaker notices the oil leaked into the water, it is a “rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”, not a pollutant. Although “The Fish” may appear to be a poem about an ordinary animal, it is actually deep and meaningful through its usage of imagery, diction, paradox, and tone. Almost every word has different meanings and can be interpreted in different ways. Through the speakers changing perspective, the reader is left with the idea that there is beauty all around us, it just takes opening the eyes to truly see