From reading only the first thirty-two pages of Gould's Book of Fish, I found a lot of evidence of the motif or theme of illusions, of disguises, or of a masked truth and deeper meaning. In a broad sense, the reader discovers that the novel’s intention is not truly to discuss fish, the aquatic vertebrates. For instance, the first chapter is entitled “The Pot-bellied Seahorse.” However, the seahorse is perhaps meant to represent people--in this case, specifically the American tourists in Australia (as they both have this “question mark” figure). “Maybe we have lost the ability, that sixth sense…and we are already sad, dumb fish” (3). This idea that what is on the surface is only part of the story can be seen elsewhere in the preface. For example, Sid Hammet makes money by taking rotting pieces of furniture and falsely displaying them as antiques. Interactions between Hammet and the tourists are not strictly business: “They were really asking, ‘Are we safe?’” (9).
On a more “close reading” scale, Flanagan’s diction and use of figurative language is indicative of these same concepts. He utilizes puns, manipulating the traditional meaning of a word or the context it is usually used in (“temporal osmosis,” “curious infection: the terrible contagion of an unrequited love” (26)). This often comes along with the addition of similes or analogies. “…teemed with words as the ocean did fish, and these schools of words…” (23). One would hope that the comparisons may give hints to what the meaning or importance of certain objects/circumstances/etc. are, but it seems they often obfuscate them instead (making the reader figure out how these certain things can be connected on a deeper level—or maybe we just haven’t read enough to be able to figure it out yet!).
It seems as though Flanagan is either going to provide the reader with the meaning of something, but fail to elaborate or hint to its implications, or he is simply going to allow the reader to discover the meaning himself. I think this gives the novel a sort of mysterious allure, a challenge to uncover the true meaning behind the story and making it relevant to your own life. “Because, you see, it sometimes seems so elusive, this book, a series of veils, each of which must be lifted and parted…” (32).
Sort of in parallel with Pudd'nhead Wilson, this book seems to be bringing up the theme of identity. Gould's analysis of the world and his book of fish seem to be his subconscious struggle to define himself, a struggle which ultimately confronts the blurred line between reality and what one fabricates as an alternate reality.
ReplyDelete"I went hither and tither, at first in search of gold and glory, and then in search of an explanation, and I was greedy for all, but only because the capture of any might prove I lived and was not a nameless man born of a nameless woman in a nameless town..." Gould writes (59). Gould clearly confronts his desire for identity in this passage, yet the sentence's lengthy string of ideas which suggests both the development of thought and the feeling of a journey, confronts the transition from reality to fictional reality. Gould begins his journey with a very concrete desire for wealth and recognition; however, this desire eventually becomes nothing more than a shallow attempt to find a sense of self. Thus far it seems like the book is suggesting that the most real identities are internal...sounds sort of like the themes we confronted in Pudd'nhead!