I am currently reading “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” by W. D. Wetherell, and have reached page 5. So far this book has introduced us to a 14 year old boy who loves to fish and is infatuated by a 17 year old girl named Sheila Mant. One day, he finally musters up the courage to ask her to go to a concert with him. During their outing, he comes upon a decision; what passion should he choose? His love of fishing or Sheila Mant?
First, I will outline why he might choose Sheila Mant over his passion for fishing. One reason is because he loves her. He loves her aura of sophistication and beauty. As he states, “to me she appeared unutterably suave, the epitome of sophistication.” He has also put a significant time investment into impressing her. Whenever he sees her watching, he will start showing off. He performs many different dives and swimming techniques to show off his skill and prowess. He has also pondered over Sheila Mant’s many moods in an attempt to try and understand her. On the day he planned to take her out on his canoe, he spent all day polishing and cleaning it. In my opinion however, this was still less than enough reason to abandon his passion for fishing.
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One reason is because fishing is his passion. He has spent a significant time improving his fishing skills. As he says in his story, “When I wasn’t swimming laps to impress Sheila, I was back in our driveway practicing casts...” He has also been fishing all summer and goes nowhere without his fishing rod. We see this when he unconsciously attaches his fishing rod to his canoe before going to pick up Sheila Mant. Another reason is that he and Sheila Mant are not compatible. She doesn't like fishing and thinks it is “dumb”. Sheila Mant was also shallower than he expected. While they were talking, she spoke only of topics like beauty, parties, and where she wants to go to college. “Somewhere I can