What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything?

One of the most prominent themes in the story collection involves the struggle to develop an internal moral compass despite the pressures of ethically questionable external pressures. In this vein, several characters wrestle with how they are seen by others, how they see themselves, and what it means to act with a sense of justice rather than self-interest.

Matt Kaizer’s arc is intimately connected with the ethical quandaries that all children must eventually overcome. Initially known as the “baddest of the bad” (21), Matt builds his identity around rebellion. His father is a reverend, so Matt’s defiance is both a rejection of his father’s authority and a way to gain status with mischievous peers who admire his pranks and dares. To his friends, being “bad” is a form of belonging. However, when Matt is confronted with the suffering of a dying man, Mr. Bataky, the boy’s identity begins to shift, especially when Mr. Bataky identifies Matt as a “good angel” (32). Matt’s own father accelerates his son’s transformation by daring him to “do goodness” (31). Suddenly, Matt must deal with conflicting external impulses and choose between succumbing to his peers’ pressure to misbehave or conforming to the adults’ expectation that he “do good.