What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything?

The cave fish is the central symbol in the collection’s opening and titular story, “What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything?” In the story, Willie repeatedly returns to the image of the cave fish, a creature that has adapted to life in eternal darkness by losing its eyes. For Willie, the blindness of the cave fish metaphorically reflects the real-world effects on people when their unhappiness becomes permanent. As the behavior of his mother demonstrates, people who live in isolation lose their ability to connect meaningfully with others. He notices his mother sinking into unhappiness after his father leaves the family, and her misery cuts her off from the community and her son. At the same time, Willie observes that society treats the unhoused man as invisible, ignoring him and denying his humanity. Willie therefore equates this unhappiness with the darkness that dominates the life of the cave fish. In this context, the cave fish’s blindness becomes a metaphor for the idea that isolation and depression can codify into a lack of empathy and connection. The cave fish symbolizes both the danger of permanent loneliness and Willie’s growing awareness of the fact that unhappiness can reshape a person’s worldview and personality.