The End of Something Metaphorically speaking

The End of Something is a metaphorical piece of literature. The man is taking his girlfriend fishing down by the abandoned mill. The metaphor is he is bringing back the past from when they first fell in love when the mill was up and running to now when he has lost his love for her and the mill is closed down showing how their relationship is coming to an end.
“There’s our old ruin, Nick,” Marjorie said.

Nick, rowing, looked at the white stone in the green trees.

“There it is,” he said.

“Can you remember when it was a mill?” Marjorie asked.

“I can just remember,” Nick said.

Now they are fishing in the lake and Marjorie notices that the fish are not biting. the metaphor here is Marjorie wants to get married to Nick and Nick doesn’t like her anymore. Marjorie is the fisher and Nick is the fish He wants to take the bait but he knows that he will get reeled in if he takes the bait. He doesn’t want to take make a commitment.

“They aren’t striking,” he said.”No,” Marjorie said. She was intent on the rod all the time they trolled, even when she talked. She loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick.

“They’re feeding,” Marjorie said.
“But they won’t strike,” Nick said.

Later in the literature Nick and Marjorie are eating on the side of the lake and Marjorie is still fishing for him to grab the bait but she starts to realize that the fish wont bite and it is getting hopeless.

“Isn’t love any fun?” Marjorie said.

“No,” Nick said. Marjorie stood up. Nick sat there, his head in his hands.

“I’m going to take the boat,” Marjorie called to him. “You can walk back around the point.”

“All right,” Nick said. “I’ll push the boat off for you.”

Marjorie is getting the bad news from Nick that they are breaking up and her wish will never come true. So the metaphor in this is she finally realizes it is hopeless and she takes her pole out of the water and takes the boat home without her man “fish”.
The End of Something Metaphorically speaking

Advertisement