The Fisherman

The Fisherman’s German name (Der Fischer) is misheard by Abe in his dream as “there fissure.” What are the punning implications of this mishearing? (Be sure to consider the novel’s recurring mentions of fissures in multiple contexts.)

As a child, Abe asks his father, “How could something sacred be bad?” (20). How is this rhetorical question significant to the context of The Fisherman’s religious/mythic imagery and events?

Langan’s novel deals partly with the egotism of “great men” and the hubris of personal ambition. What terrible costs or injustices, can come from a single-minded devotion to a “great purpose”? Cite examples from the text.

Compare the themes, plot, characters, and tone of The Fisherman to a “weird tale” of your choice. How does Langan both acknowledge and build upon the conventions of this genre?

Rainer describes to Jacob the differences between himself and his late friend Wilhelm Vanderwort, saying that Wilhem had “leaps” of insight, while he himself excelled at diligent research. How does the unique dynamic of their friendship factor into Wilhelm’s death and Rainer’s disgrace?

Discuss the role of guilt in the novel. How does the Fisherman exploit this primal emotion to fuel his quest?

What does Marie’s golden-eyed double mean when she tells Abe that she is a “reflection”? How does this self-description relate to the novel’s water imagery and Lottie’s traumatic vision in the bakery closet?

At Dutchman’s Creek, Abe witnesses a tableau of the Fisherman’s white minions on the shore of a black ocean, grappling with the “colorless” Leviathan, with the Fisherman bound just as immobile as his prey. What does Abe mean when he says that “to appreciate [this] might be the beginning of a kind of wisdom”? (243). Cite evidence from the text in your response.