The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant

Few things are more intense than an adolescent’s obsessions. The narrator’s crush on Sheila Mant matches in intensity only his love of fishing. When these passions come into conflict, his heart is wounded by the awful choice he must make.

On the one hand, Sheila Mant, the dream of every boy at the summer resort, represents for the narrator the height of romance. On the other hand, his years-long enthusiasm for fishing connects him to nature and to moments of sublimity. What he doesn’t realize until it’s too late is that despite the strength of his feelings, only one of these obsessions has staying power and deep-seated meaning. His summertime crush on Sheila has consumed him for weeks, while fishing has nurtured his soul for years. The chance to be with her feels intensely bright with promise, while the beloved sport of bass fishing, always available, becomes something he takes for granted.

The collision of these two great passions happens so quickly that the narrator has no time to think. Just when Sheila announces that fishing is dumb and the narrator tries to hide his fishing tackle, the line snags a giant bass. Caught between his yearning for her and his intense desire to catch a great fish, the narrator confronts an impossible choice between two things of seemingly equal importance.