Christopher, the Fisherman by Hermann Schubnell - Essay Example

The story “Christopher, the Fisherman” written by Hermann Schubnell is about how one needs to move on in life, to be more specific, how one needs to adapt to changes that come their way. And Christopher did not want to change the way things were. A story based on symbolism, it focuses on the adaptations one needs to pursue in life. Symbolism is the use of language in order to give away two or more meanings; using things to depict real-life situations. In “Christopher, the fisherman” the readers can observe the details about the river and the protagonist's attachment with it.

He finds the river inspirational and treats it as a living being. As a matter of fact, the symbolism is used to show how even nature changes itself or its course to a new thing that comes along the way. For e.g.: “The salmon’s migration had ceased, and it had become extinct in the river because its habitat had been destroyed.” (Page 649) This event was rather difficult for Christopher, as his sole means of living were gone, but it surely shows how even fish change their course when their habitat was gone.

They left the place to live somewhere else. The story progresses with how each generation of farmers prospered with their way of fishing styles and their area of expertise regarding Salmon. The “Christopher’s” as they might be termed, were extremely satisfied with their lives: a simple, small hut, fishing for a living and living far in the farms in isolation. The fisherman wanted no change and he wished for nothing either. But as time progressed, industrialization started to take place.

This meant that the huge acres of farmland was being used to construct power stations, factories and what not. The forests were being cut down, as the wood was needed in the construction as well as raw materials to the factories. This caused great despair to Christopher, and he wanted nothing else but the fact that his river, which his family used for fishing, and his fishing rights remain with him. Slowly, the inevitable happened, and the power station required a wall to be built in the river.

Christopher remained in denial and he wasn’t ready to accept this proposal at all: “They could not build, never, he thought calmly; I have my rights, I and my son” (Page 648) This shows the real theme of the story, which is failing to accept and adapt to changes in life.