A Critical Review of The Rainbow Fish
In The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister tells how a beautiful, extraordinary, yet, self-centered blue fish learns that being beautiful isn’t the key to happiness. The blue fish came to find this lesson when he lost his friends. Pfister takes a simple ocean setting and explores the consequences of an individual’s arrogance toward their peers, the process of humbling of oneself, and the tremendous reward one feels when they learn to share. The story achieves these morals by the author’s use of detailed imager and also, the influence of minor characters on the antihero in order to reveal to the audience the true thematic message; selfish actions bring true happiness.
It starts when Rainbow Fish, the most beautiful fish in the ocean is asked to share his shimmering scales, but he angrily denies them and turns all the fish reject him. All the other fish want nothing to do with him, nor do they want to befriend him. (As the story states) “From then on, no one would have anything to do with the Rainbow Fish. They turned away when he swam by” (Pfister 5). The author’s intention is to reveal to the audience how the other fish were not friends with Rainbow Fish due to his egocentric behavior. Rainbow fish was self-centered and believed to be better than all the other fish. He valued beauty, something that was of little value over his happiness. He then suffered consequences of those beliefs by being lonely.
Rainbow Fish then seeks wisdom from an octopus. (As the story states) “This is my advice. Give a glittering scale to each of the other fish. You will no longer be the most beautiful fish in the sea, but you will discover how to be happy” (Pfister 15). The author uses an octopus, which is a minor ch...
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...s, and embracing uniqueness.
Having looked at Pfister’s work, I have learned a lot as a writer. He has taught me that character choice is important to the overall message. Pfister has taught me that my choice in words needs to be precise in order to capture the perfect image and illustration for my audience. He gives a great example of selfishness by using a beautiful, yet exceptional blue fish, unlike any other fish in the sea. Rainbow Fish goes from being self-centered to becoming selfless. A valuable lesson is taught by the author for the sole purpose of educating our youth and making them understanding that egocentric behavior can lead to a lost in friendships and acquaintances. The moral of The Rainbow Fish has encouraged me to have purpose and meaning behind my writing.
RESOURCES
Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish. New York:
North-South Books, 1992.
Effect on others: Throughout the first three quarters of the story, three different illustrations portray the fish scowling at the cat (11, 25, and 37) immediately after each of the cat’s activities. When the cat returns to clean up his mess at the end of the story the fish is shown with a smile on his face (57). Explaining the scowls on the fish’s face support the argument that the cat’s behavior at the beginning of the story is not acceptable to the fish. The fish’s smile at the end of the story reveals that the cat is engaging in behavior that is now acceptance to the
...He is still anchored to his past and transmits the message that one makes their own choices and should be satisfied with their lives. Moreover, the story shows that one should not be extremely rigid and refuse to change their beliefs and that people should be willing to adapt to new customs in order to prevent isolation. Lastly, reader is able to understand that sacrifice is an important part of life and that nothing can be achieved without it. Boats are often used as symbols to represent a journey through life, and like a captain of a boat which is setting sail, the narrator feels that his journey is only just beginning and realizes that everyone is in charge of their own life. Despite the wind that can sometimes blow feverishly and the waves that may slow the journey, the boat should not change its course and is ultimately responsible for completing its voyage.
The Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an invasive saltwater predator that is increasing exponentially in the tropics of the western Atlantic (Benkwitt, 2013). The Lionfish invasion is causing a dramatic decline in native marine reef species due the gluttony of the lionfish.
“Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what’s outside, but what is inside that counts.” (Aladdin). The quote represents how people view society as one image, that you have to be that image in those details, but really it is okay to be more than that. This is the feeling of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is an interesting concept in society and it’s also evident in the story “Fish Cheeks.”
This book helped me put some of the situations and feelings that I have experienced in my life into perspective and with more meaning. I could relate to many of the subjects that this book covered and could understand where the author’s ideas originated. Not only can I see his ideas appearing in my own actions, but I also see them in males in their mid-forties to fifties. This observation supports the idea of us going from innocence to doubt and back to innocence. The first idea that stuck with me is the interpretation of the salmon and how it represented Christ.
Therefore, Oliver’s incorporation of imagery, setting, and mood to control the perspective of her own poem, as well as to further build the contrast she establishes through the speaker, serves a critical role in creating the lesson of the work. Oliver’s poem essentially gives the poet an ultimatum; either he can go to the “cave behind all that / jubilation” (10-11) produced by a waterfall to “drip with despair” (14) without disturbing the world with his misery, or, instead, he can mimic the thrush who sings its poetry from a “green branch” (15) on which the “passing foil of the water” (16) gently brushes its feathers. The contrast between these two images is quite pronounced, and the intention of such description is to persuade the audience by setting their mood towards the two poets to match that of the speaker. The most apparent difference between these two depictions is the gracelessness of the first versus the gracefulness of the second. Within the poem’s content, the setting has been skillfully intertwined with both imagery and mood to create an understanding of the two poets, whose surroundings characterize them. The poet stands alone in a cave “to cry aloud for [his] / mistakes” while the thrush shares its beautiful and lovely music with the world (1-2). As such, the overall function of these three elements within the poem is to portray the
The first element to analyze when looking at “The Fish” is figurative language. The reader is drawn to this element because of its heavy emphasis throughout the poem. Elizabeth Bishop profusely uses similes with the intention of heightening the sensation of fishing. She writes:
In fact, the fish story has become a metaphor reflecting the technique used by Finney for expressing the difficult thing beautifully, to compress a poem choosing what should be kept in a poem and what should be thrown away (Finney, “Interview with: Nikky Finney”), to express whatever difficult feelings she has without much noise or rage. Finney sees activism as a basic part of her work.
Coming home from the grueling experience of being a soldier in World War I, he felt ecstatic when he saw a trout swimming in the stream. The perils of war took a devastating toll on Nick, as he suffered from a physical wound while in action. The camping trip here is like an oasis, which will let Nick to recover from all the distress. “Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge. It was a hot day. A kingfisher flew up from the stream. It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory...Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.” (178) The healing process begins here with Nick re-acclimating himself with one of his favorite hobbies: fishing. “He started down to the stream, holding his rod...Nick felt awkward and professionally happy with all the equipment hanging from him...His mouth dry, his heart down...Holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current, Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river. Holding the rod, pumping alive against the current, Nick brought the trout in...” (190,193,195) Nick finally reels in a trout after the big one got away, getting to the feeling of relaxation and washing away the horrors of war. By pitching his tent out in the forest and being able to function by himself so smoothly, Nick shows how he represents the trait of stoicism. He did not complain or stop living, coming back with the trauma of war. Going camping, he is able to relieve himself through using all the nature around him, showcasing his
man's compassion because it shows that man is capable of associating with animals that society does not usually identify as having emotions or feelings. By having the man relate with the fish, the author makes the point that man feels for “lesser” beings and, while being superior, is not emotionally isolated from other creatures. Additionally, because the mullet was the lone yield of the fisher's evening, it shows that, even when he is beaten and broken, man is willing to sacrifice his advantages to aid those in need. These two messages join to effectively show that humans are compassionate beings.
Moran, Daniel. “Critical Essay on ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
The story follows the lives of the Pickle family and the Lamb family and how they have come to grow, develop, love and change over a period of twenty years, while living with each other. Unfortunately, both moves coincided with different family disaster’s. For the Lamb’s, the unfortunate event takes place in the form of the near drowning of Samson, or as he is better known as Fish. While for the Pickles, it occurs with the loss of Sam’s (the father’s) fingers in a fishing accident. The reader can relate these events it to the biblical story of ‘Samson,’ and how he gained his strength through his hair. Meaning that by losing some of their strengths, (like Samson’s hair cut,) both Sam’s where able to gain new insights and opportunities. For Sam Pickles, this meant the move into the city from the outback, brought him his own home and a steady job at the mint. A rather large irony, as Sam is a compulsive gambler, more often than not short of cash. Although for Fish, losing his mental faculties and the ability to communicate to others, in his near drowning experience, gave way for his unimaginable bond with water and his abilities as a visionary. As Oriel Lamb said after Fish was rescued, "To the child who had hovered on the brink of drowning and who returned to life, though not all of Fish Lamb had come back," (found on Page 32) that other part of Fish Lamb it seems is the omniscient narrator of the novel.
The walking catfish has become known as a notorious and harmful indigenous species on the top 100 most invasive species list (Masterson 2007). The species is so harmful that is has been blacklisted by numerous states including the state of Indiana (Brogan 2003). This species has a certain trait that allows it to work its way throughout the regions in order to invade and reproduce. Due to the species ability to walk on dry land and also to survive long periods of time without food or water, it has made its mark as an invasive species (Masterson 2007).
In this paper I will explain the life of salmon and discuss the environment that they live in. I
Dr. Seuss’ works were written for children but he often hid political issues within them. He wrote the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish in 1960 which was the start of the Civil Rights Movement. In the first stanza of the story, one of the two narrators, Ned describes the many different fish he sees all around him. He describes how the fish around him vary in m...