The fish

Though i may be completely off the mark, but when reading the poem "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop i couldn't help the feeling that the fish represented a man.  Playing off of the old saying "there are plenty of other fish in the sea" i felt as though i was reading "in between the lines" and caught a glimpse of a hidden symbol throughout the piece.  I saw a story unfold between the author and a man who she had lured into her life "caught" and was now breaking him down in her head as can be seen in the first 20 lines.  Each line more offensive then the next, really focusing on the physical features that cause you to feel bad for the fish, which is common for a person to do when selecting someone to be with.  Then, over the next 20 lines or so as if the man or the "fish" began to understand her hurtful comments she begins to feel bad for just how dreadful he looked, the same appearance she was mocking a few lines before.  I felt after this the tone of the poem completely changed.  Elizabeth Bishop began using words like medal, ribbon and rainbow, much more positive words.  She even went as far as to say she admired the fish.  At this point it seemed to me that when she stopped being shallow and looked past the exterior she began to appreciate the personality or in this case all the fish has had to endure.  Repeating the word rainbow in the second to last line gave me the feeling that she has had a mood swing and now is beginning to see a much brighter world.  In the beginning she had this man as i see it, in the palm of her hand, no pun intended, with complete control over him and she began degrading him.  But the longer she held him out of his comfort zone the more lifeless he became, and the closer to death he got, the more she began to understand him, and the more she began to understand him the more she sympathized with him which ultimately led to an epiphany causing her to let go because she was abusing her power.  I think it relates to women being more understanding of men and even though it is common that a man may take advantage of a woman, the writer speaks of a time where even when in complete control, she was in her right mind enough to do the right thing. If that makes any sense....