THE FISH

After reading "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop a person can learn to respect the life of a simple creature. The author compares this poor innocent fish that has been caught by a fisher to an old aging wise man; "Like medals with their ribbons frayed and wavering, a five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw." As the fisher is just standing there staring at the poor animal dangling from the line they realize by the look in the fishes eyes and the detail in the skin that the fish is still a part of the earth and has a right to live; as explained in "While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen — the frightening gills, fresh and crisp with blood"; so the fisher lets the fish go free and finish his journey in the sea.