Themes
- The town – The town that they row past during the first part of the story is described as having passed its peak years ago, and it is now very worn-out and broken-looking. No one lives there anymore. It represents the state of Nick's and Marjorie's relationship.
- The fish – Marjorie, in an attempt to make conversation, comments that the fish are plentiful nearby. "But they won't bite," Nick replies. In this case, Nick is supposed to be a fish, and Marjorie the fisherman, trying to "lure" or "bait" Nick into marriage. However, Nick doesn't want to get married and won't "bite".
- Resolution – Despite, or maybe because of, the break-up, Nick is clearly depressed at the end of the story. He cannot escape his feeling of loss.
Read more about this topic: The End Of Something
Famous quotes containing the word themes:
“In economics, we borrowed from the Bourbons; in foreign policy, we drew on themes fashioned by the nomad warriors of the Eurasian steppes. In spiritual matters, we emulated the braying intolerance of our archenemies, the Shi’ite fundamentalists.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“I suppose you think that persons who are as old as your father and myself are always thinking about very grave things, but I know that we are meditating the same old themes that we did when we were ten years old, only we go more gravely about it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)