Elizabeth Bishop the Mundane, Human Experience in

Elizabeth Bishop The mundane, human experience in "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop, author to numerous literary works, particularly on poetry, had been known for her effective illustration of everyday experience in the most extraordinary depiction and interpretation. As an American poet and artist, Bishop was identified as a staunch supporter and adherent of numerous movements that pervaded society during the 20th century, such as feminism, emphasis on liberation through self-expression, and adopting a pluralist view of the world's cultures (Lensing, 1995).

Bishop's poetry is characterized as centering on two important things: travel and the mundane. The poet's love for traveling and discovering new cultures and societies around the world developed her propensity to observe and adopt an objective view in interpreting everyday actions and things (i.e., "commonplace objects and occurrences") that she encounters and experiences everyday. Her poetry is best summed up as a contemplation of her continuous drive to explore and discover life through traveling (Microsoft Encarta 2002).

These themes of traveling and interpreting mundane human experiences are explicated in her poem, "The Fish." This simple poem conveys numerous implicit or symbolic meanings that reflect Bishop's subject interpretation of what 'travel' meant in her life.

The Voice's expedition in "The Fish" was a contemplation of travel through life in general, and through the use of symbolism, connotation, and effective imagery, Bishop was able to extend to her readers her thoughts on life and its difficulties, and how these complex turns in life become channels in which humanity finds strength and inspiration to move forward and live progressively and meaningfully. Connotation was utilized in the poem in order to depict the theme of 'metaphorical travel' (through life) that Bishop wanted to convey.

The subject of the poem, the fish, was utilized to connote life and its struggles in general. The implied meaning behind the use of the fish as a subject was addressed in the poem, wherein the fisher/Voice discovered that, upon catching the fish, " .. I saw that from his lower lip .. hung five old pieces of fish-line ..

with all their five big hooks grown firmly in his mouth." From this passage, the Voice made a discovery that made her realize how, despite its numerous fights against death (from being caught), the fish managed to survive. The fish's determination to survive had overpowered the Voice's resolve to catch it, thus, the fish succeeded (again) for the sixth time, and managed to escape death. Another connotation used in the poem was fishing, an activity that seemed mundane on the surface, yet meaningful for the Voice.

It was through the act of fishing that the Voice was able to reflect on the meaningfulness of her life, as seen through the image of the fish she had caught. There were two reflections seen in the poem. The first one was the Voice's discovery that the fish she had caught did not fight, not because it was weak, but simply because he was strong and confident enough that its experience as a 'survivor' will prevail and life would allow it to live again ("I caught a tremendous fish ..

He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all."). This realization that the fish was strong and confident instead of a weak one became apparent towards the end of the poem, wherein the fish's 'history of survival' was chronicled through the "five old pieces of fish-line" that the Voice saw in its mouth. Courage and survival in life was connoted through the following lines: " .. from his lower lip .. hung five old pieces of fish-line .. A five-haired beard of wisdom .. I stared and victory filled up the little rented boat ..

" These lines depicted Bishop's belief that the journey through life becomes meaningful only when the individual survived and strongly bears this survival, as strong as the fish bore his struggle against death. Thus, a meaningful life was a life that was courageously lived, the will to live on despite numerous struggles and threats that it presented to the individual. Imagery, meanwhile, was also utilized to effectively portray the emotion of the poem, which was mainly nostalgic and hopeful, parallel to the thoughts that the Voice conveyed in the poem.

Nostalgia was reflected in the lines, "I looked into his eyes .. seen through the lenses of old scratched isinglass," wherein the Voice's thoughts brought back memories of the Voice's own struggles with life. Hope was also conveyed as the Voice released the fish from its bait, ".