In the short story God is not a Fish Inspector by W.D. Valgardson, the protagonist Fusi Bergman is a man with a youthful heart who struggles to accept his failure to fish efficiently due to his aging body. As a result of the conflicts that dominate his life, Fusi gives in to his inevitable fate, and loses the one thing that sets him apart from his former friends and acquaintances. Fusi’s hostile relationship with his daughter, his opposition against the old folk’s home, and the deterioration of his body contribute to his ultimate defeat. To begin with, Fusi and his daughter Emma’s clashing views lead to Fusi’s loss of individuality. Emma feels fishing without a license is unethical, and suggests that “God will punish” Fusi. When Fusi returns from fishing, his daughter …show more content…
In contrast, Fusi values autonomy and standing up on his own two feet. Emma misuses religion to manipulate her father, however, Fusi is able to defend himself, as he believes he serves a purpose. He is 70 years of age, and he can still fish. Unfortunately, Emma takes away his sense of self-worth and pride when she reveals that he has not been deceiving the authorities, in reality, they have been watching over him like a child to ensure his safety. In one line, the last thing he had left to prove himself is taken from him, and the power of Emma’s words lead to her victory. Next, Fusi’s negative outlook towards the old folk’s home is a major factor in his downfall. Fusi describes the old folk’s home to be like a prison, “someone watching over you every minute of the day.” The idea that he can never escape is scary to him, “the porch sat
During the 1930s there was a time period known as the Harlem Renaissance, during this time African Americans sought a newfound cultural freedom and advancements in social classes. In the novel, Their Eyes Are Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays both similarities and departures from the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston uses the main character Janie to illustrate these ideals such as the struggle to find oneself and fight against the opinions of others. In addition Hurston also depicts issues and similarities like African Americans who achieved high social classes and discriminated those below them, racial segregation, but also a new found African American confidence. She also demonstrates departures from the Harlem Renaissance
God is depicted in the Old Testament with a very bad reputation. David Lamb is an old testament professor and he addresses some of the reasons for this bad reputation. In Lamb’s book, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? In his book, there are seven specific citations addressed that provide proof and evidence for those who would believe “God behaves badly.” The examples that Professor Lamb chose are: angry or loving, sexist or affirming, racist or hospitable, violent or peaceful, legalistic or gracious, rigid or flexible, and distant or near. With each chapter that Lamb writes, it provides multiple biblical narrative accounts and establishes a basis for the particular argument aimed against God.
This is a paper about the book Finding Fish: A Memoir, which was written by Antwone Fisher. By necessity given the nature of the book, the main character will be examined at length. Through careful examination of the main character a deeper understanding of the book can be reached. After the examination, a number of theoretical perspectives will be applied to the main character, as well as an explanation of how these perspectives can be used to evaluate Antwone in order to understand him better. The perspectives that will be used will be the strengths, systems, conflict, humanistic, and psychodynamic perspectives. Following the connection of the perspectives to Antwone, an explanation of why social workers use theories and
Stephen Prothero’s “God Is Not One” is a survey of world religions, comprising vital information on a vast array of different sets of belief. As someone who has never studied religion before, nor belongs to a particular faith, the variability within these religions is staggering. One might be satisfied to define religion as “how a person goes about believing in God,” but soon finds that even that definition has its holes. Thankfully, “God Is Not One” does an amazing job of cluing its reader into the nuances that are sometimes forgotten about the religions it approaches.
Religion and tradition are two ways that families come together. However in Norman Maclean’s novella, A River Runs Through It, the Maclean family’s devotion to their Presbyterian religion and their tradition of fly-fishing is what undeniably brought the family together. Under the father’s strict Presbyterian values, his sons, Norman and Paul used fly-fishing as the link that brought them closer together and helped them bond with their father on a different level. The family’s hobby of fly-fishing was started just for fun. It was a sport that was taken up every Sunday after church to take their minds off of the worries in life. After a while, going fly-fishing every Sunday turned into a tradition and soon a
In this text titled GOD by Simon Blackburn, the protagonist agues of beliefs and other things. I am going to argue that there does not exist a super or godlike being who is all good, all knowing, all powerful. (40 words)
“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant,” by W. D. Wetherell, is an initiation story in which the symbols of fishing and Sheila Mant illustrate how the character of the narrator transforms from youth and innocence to sophistication and maturity. At age fourteen, it is typical for a boy such as the narrator to be beginning this transformation. Being innocent and naïve in a sense, the fourteen year old narrator gets an enormous crush on a seventeen year old girl named Sheila Mant and comes to believe she is what he loves most in life. For him, Sheila is a symbol of the maturity and sophistication he will eventually become a
The events of this story are simple enough; the narrator, and his younger brother, Paul, have learned from their father the art of fly fishing. The narrator’s wife and mother-in-law ask both brothers to take a never do well brother-in-law fishing, as if fishing might somehow cure the brother-in-law of fool-headedness and personal failure. But the fishing trip gets all mixed up with too much drinking and a loose woman, and ends up with the narrator in trouble with his wife and mother-in-law, for not having taken finer charge of the brother-in-law. They should have saved him from his own proclivities for drinking, and cheating on his
The girl distrusts her mother and believes her to be out of touch, while helping her father in "his real work" (468). Surprisingly, the girl's desire to avoid the manifestation of her femininity in womanly tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, influences her into feeling that her mother is "plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house [. . ]. and keep [her] from working for [her] father" (469). The girl chooses to dismiss her mother, thereby dismissing her own future role as a housewife.
Man vs. Nature-When the old man catches the swordfish he has to fight nature itself to bring the fish to shore. The old man had to be extremely careful not to lose the sword fish just to bring the fish to the side of the boat. After he has the fish tied to the side of the boat he then had to defend it from the sharks.
She looks forward to moving away like others in her town. She admits she will not be missed at her job and at nineteen, without the former protection of her older brothers, she is beginning to feel "herself in danger of her father's violence.” This danger she sees is taken away when she meets her suitor, the sailor, Frank who promises her a better life away from these hardships she has faced.
Eilis starts making her own decisions without her families influence. Eilis has just recently gotten married to Tony, her
This affects how Jeannette views her life, and as a result, she wants to have a better life than
In the timeless novel The Old Man and the Sea, the hero is undoubtedly the old man, Santiago, whom us as readers become very acquainted with. Santiago is a hard-worker and perseveres through every problem nature brings to him. He is in the midst of a horrendous fishing drought, during which the townspeople laugh and ridicule him. Santiago just lets the criticism pass him by because he is confident that the fish of his lifetime is coming soon. In a sense, Santiago represents the ideas of honor and pride. He is also a hero to a young boy named Manolin who conveys the image that the old man is whom he would rather live
It is usually a challenge to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Ordinarily, one has to consider one’s values as well as preferred consequences in order to make the better or best choice. In the short story, “What of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret, Sergei Goralick faced a similar conundrum. As an aloof Russian expatriate fisherman in Jaffa, Israel, his only company is a magic three wish-granting fish. But having impulsively murdered Yonatan, Goralick had to decide whether to use his last wish to save the boy or keep his magic goldfish companion. Though he would have preferred the latter, Goralick made the better choice saving Yonatan as it matches his established humaneness and the consequences attached were more reasonable.