The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant Symbolism Essay Example

Regret is a huge part of life, you make a decision based on how much you desire something and end up regretting that same decision. The story “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” is about the regretful decision that our unnamed teenage narrator made, the main character chose an unrealistic expectation of a girl instead of catching the biggest bass he would ever catch and lives to regret that choice. This is a story of sacrifice and the decision and thought process that leads to a sacrifice that creates anguish for the narrator in later years.  In the story W.D. Wetherall conveys the theme of desire gets in the way of rationality. Additionally, the most desirable want is not the route a person should pursue through the symbolism of the bass and point of view through which the story is told.

The author of the story displays the theme clearly with his use of symbolism. The bass is a symbol of an achievable, realistic desire and one that will last. Sheila Mant is a symbol of an unrealistic, temporary desire. The narrator ends up regretting his decision of choosing the temporary desire over the one that will last. The text conveys a sense of symbolism when it says “it seemed I would be torn apart between longings, split in half.” This shows the narrator’s realization of his decision between “the biggest bass” he “had ever hooked” and Sheila Mant. He knew the bass couldn’t get away and it was a guaranteed catch, stating “If instead I stood up, grabbed the rod, and started pumping, I would have it—as tired as the bass was, there was no chance it could get away.” The narrator made the very hard decision to release the bass; with “a penknife” from his pocket, he “cut the line in half.” After this, the narrator said that he had “a sick, nauseous feeling in my stomach,” which shows he felt regretful of his decision even seconds after. Since this story is in the past tense, readers get to see the after-effects of this whole ordeal, the narrator states that afterward “Before the month was over, the spell she cast over me was gone” but “the memory of that lost bass haunted me all summer and haunts me still.” This all shows that the author creates a clear essence of symbolism with the bass being a decision or desire that creates regret from not pursuing and Sheila a more desirable want that was sought after but regretted because it was indulged. This symbolism adds to the theme that intense desire gets rid of rationality since the narrator didn’t spend the time thinking of the outcomes of what would happen later after the “spell she cast over” him was gone (Wetherall).

D.W. Wetherall used the 1st person point of view to tell the story. The narrator of the story is the protagonist and is the center of all the experiences described. The point of view on the story adds to the theme directly by allowing us to see the inner personal dilemma that he is going through and affected by. The narrator's realization started with “The line, tightly coiled, peeled off the spool with the shrill,” and the moment he started to realize the gravity of the situation he thought of  “Four things” which were “One, that it was a bass. Two, that it was a big bass. Three, that it was the biggest bass I had ever hooked. Four, that Sheila Mant must not know.” One thing that he realized was that Sheila must not know, the reason is that earlier in the story Sheila said “I think fishing’s dumb.” This makes catching this fish while in pursuit of Shiela practically impossible. But as he continued the bass was “growing weaker, and this was another tug on” his “heart,” he knew that he had to decide between Shiela and the bass which was an incredibly hard decision since he was obsessed with this girl. The narrator even said “the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Sheila Mant,” which clearly foreshadows a conflict of desires between a largemouth bass and Shiela. “Through a superhuman effort of self-control,” he made it to their destination after a “sick, nauseous feeling in my stomach” from when he pulled “a penknife from” his “pocket and cut the line in half.” But afterward, years later he realized “there would be other Sheila Mants in my life, other fish,” but that one fish would “haunt” him to this very day. Through this choice of point of view the author chose, allows the reader to see the internal conflict and every feeling, thought, and action he took and had that made him eventually regret the decision he had made through his own fascination with Sheila Mant (Wetherall).

Through the story W.D Wetherall provides a theme of often desire can corrupt or affect rationality and your ability to think through your different options with the use of point of view and symbolism. The symbolism and the point of view the story was told in adds to the theme by allowing the bass and Sheila to essentially become a symbol of conflicting desires while the point of view allows us to see the inner thoughts and ideas the narrator has while realizing he has opposing wants, but eventually regretting his decision. If the narrator would’ve thought through his decision he would’ve realized that choosing the girl that dislikes the one thing that he loves would be a bad decision then he would in the years to come not regret his decision and live a fuller, happier life.