Tuesday, July 23, 2013

In Elizabeth Bishop's poem "The Fish," is the expression "everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" abstract or concrete?

"The Fish" is a poem overflowing with imagery.  This
particular line, of course, comes right at the end of the poem, right before the fish is
released.  I tend to think the line "everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" has to
be abstract.


To read it as a concrete image is to imply
that all the narrator saw was rainbow on the fish or in the sky (for which there is no
evidence).  We know there is an actual reflected rainbow in the oil sitting in the
bottom of the boat a few lines before this one; it seems unlikely the line refers either
to that or the suddenly overpowering striping of the rainbow trout (which is, in
reality, less a rainbow than just a red strip of color).


To
read it as a figurative image implies all the symbolism and meaning traditionally
attributed to a rainbow: beauty, hope, dreams, promise.  These seem much more likely to
be the view of a narrator who appreciates the character and perseverence of a fish that
his battled its way through life and the intention of release than the more literal
rainbow stripes. 


The title tells us this is not just
any fish ("The Fish"), and the opening
lines tell us:



readability="7">

I caught a tremendous fish
and held him
beside the boat
half out of water, with my hook
fast in a corner of
his mouth.



Our narrator was
not initially struck with its colorfulness; in fact, the description is of "brown skin
hung in strips like ancient wallpaper."  There is no literal rainbow to be seen on this
battered and scarred yet beautiful fish--


readability="7">

--until everything
was


rainbow, rainbow,
rainbow!


And I let the fish
go.



The rainbow seems so
symbolic of the respect our narrator has for this creature (which shows itself in this
new perspective on a battered, ugly fish) as well as the hope for the fish's
future.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment on the setting and character of "The Fall of the House of Usher."How does setting act as a character?

Excellent observation, as it identifies how the settings of Poe's stories reflect the characters of their protagonists. Whet...