One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Poor Bluie. Does he know what he is? I’m not going to attempt to understand the workings of little fishy minds here. I was little once. I had fish (still do, actually) and I found that they are impossible to comprehend (and they don’t really make good friends. Every time I tried to talk to them or “play” with them they shimmied away. So they may not have been the best pets ever.) Personally, I always wanted a cat. That’s why I feel bad for Bluie, and my fish too. They aren’t loved as exactly what they are, they’re loved and what we wish they were. Adam Gopnick says it this way, that Bluie was, “a fish passing as a hamster hoping to be a dog.” Therefore, it seems Olivia loved Bluie not because he was a fish but because he was a placeholder for the dog she wanted desperately. But is that really true? Maybe she grew to love him for what he really was, an itty bitty blue fish with a penchant for getting stuck in castle windows.

This brings me to another point, or another fish at least. Reddie. The villain fish. Or maybe just the jealous one. Every story has a villain and jealousy is a classic motive. Until last week though, I didn’t know it was a motive for fish! I thought it was absolutely genius the way Gopnick’s son decided that Reddie was the rogue of the story. Kids can be so smart and have such good ideas, I’m constantly reminded to be more like them. Their ideas can be so simple yet so creative. It’s truly amazing.

I guess my point is just that fish, like people, are complex. That they aren’t always as simple as they appear on the outside. It’s a lot to get from a short narrative about a couple fish, but that just shows that it’s possible to get so much from so little.