Top Three Episodes Of Big Game Fishing In Classic Literature

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Top Three Episodes Of Big Game Fishing In Classic Literature

These are some activities that, because they are so far beyond the normal experience of the common man, they become a thrill just to read and hear about. Big game fishing is one such activity, and many of the world's greatest authors have proven this time and again by using the sport as the basis for their stories. In some cases, this has produced immortal classics that will stand the test of time.

Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" is a fantastic example of this trend. Published in America more than one hundred years ago, it tells the story of Captain Ahab and his fanatical quest for vengeance against the white whale Moby Dick. The whale had injured him some years previous, and now with a wooden leg, Ahab thirsts for revenge.

Throughout the novel, the futility and hardship of Ahab's quest becomes more and more apparent. Soon, one realizes that an enterprise like fishing, far from being relaxing, can be a serious undertaking that can even claim one's life. The crew finds themselves in increasing peril as Ahab refuses to abandon his pursuit, and it's a breathtaking ride all around.

Then, of course there's Hemingway. A fisherman himself, Hemingway put all that he knew about the sport into his classic story, "The Old Man and the Sea". Here, an old man has been down on his luck in fishing as of late and hasn't caught a fish in more than a month. Both his livelihood and his life are at stake unless he can land something big.

Having not caught a fish for more than a month, Hemingway's Old Man struggles not just for the sake of honor or his reputation as a fisherman, but rather for his life itself. There is a very real sense that the man will eventually die if he doesn't succeed in his journey. Spanning many perilous days and nights, this story highlights the lengths to which humanity can, and sometimes must, go to find value.

Even the Bible chimes in with its own fishing story, and it too is a pretty good one. When the prophet Jonah hears the call of God, he attempts to shirk his duty by buying passage on a fishing vessel headed far away from his homeland. During the course of the voyage though, things do not go as planned.

God continually besets the ship with one hardship after the other, including devastating storms and a total lack of successful fishing, until at last the crew throws Jonah overboard. Once they do, the ship continues on unabated, but Jonah himself is swallowed up by a whale or shark (the exact type of fish is unspecified).

As we all know, though, Jonah is delivered up from the whale in the end, and this is very similar to the act of deliverance that literature performs upon the sport of big game fishing. Far from being something un-intellectual, it is a passionate undertaking that can mean the difference between life and death for many people. The great authors of the world have known this and their wisdom should be heeded.

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