“Object, may be missile, fired from Soviet base, Anadyr Peninsular… DEW Line high sensitivity radar now has four objects on its screens. Speed and trajectory indicates they are ballistic missiles” (Frank 89). Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon, which is based on a fictional nuclear attack against the United States by the Soviet Union, is a post-apocalyptic novel set in the early 1960’s in America during the Cold War that aims to warn people of the alarming possibility of nuclear war with the Soviets. Fort Repose, a small town in central Florida, faces the aftermath of this attack. Randy Bragg, a young man in Fort Repose, must rise up to save his town from their crisis and help rebuild it. This novel tells the story of how the community of Fort Repose puts aside their normal social boundaries and prejudice to come together to achieve a common goal: survival. Pat Frank uses difficult settings, challenging conflicts, and indirect characterization to convey his theme that during a catastrophe, a community must work together to survive.
In this story, “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant,” this boy is willing to give up his entire reputation and passion for being a fisherman just because the pretty faced, inconsiderate, selfless girl thinks fishing is boring and not exciting. When the boy finally gets the courage to ask Sheila out of this concert thing with his boat through the river to be alone with her, he puts out a fishing line out of habit and picks the girl up, and she does not see the rod and just starts talking on and on about herself. Meanwhile, this boy has accidentally hooked the supposed biggest bass ever, and the girl does not realize because she is just too busy talking. Eventually, the boy cut the fishing line, and when they get to the actual concert, he realizes they have nothing in common. When the girl gets a ride home from another one of her friends, the boy goes back not only to a broken heart, but also he has seemed to have lost his ego and reputation just by trying to gain this cute faced neighbor's
One night in the short story “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” written by W.D. Wetherell, the narrator realized that doing what he loves and being who he truly is comes before any significant person in his life. The narrator was obsessed with both Sheila Mant and fishing so if he wasn’t thinking about one it would be the other. On the way down to their date, the narrator found out that Sheila Mant thought fishing was stupid and boring while he could not live without it. During the story, the narrator decided to let down a fishing line while Sheila was not paying attention and this is where he started to face a dilemma. He realized that “Sheila began talking about something else, but all my attention was taken up now with the fish” (Wetherell
In day 4 of the reading, Holden takes a cab drive and once again brings up the question of where the ducks go during the winter, symbolizing his childlike curiosity and how he wants to be free from society just like the ducks. Holden brings up the question about the ducks, asking "does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away?" (Page 82). This shows Holden's childlike curiosity is still prevalent, asking a question that is obviously untrue but an ideal solution to the question. It also symbolizes how he is like a duck, who does not know what he wants to do, whether it is to transition into an adult and fly away, or stay in the lake and freeze in childhood. Also, This is shown again when he asks about the fish. He asks
This passage from Dalton Trumbo’s novel Johnny Got His Gun shows a relationship between a father and son through a seemingly small and insignificant series of events. The short story depicts a father and his son on their annual fishing trip. The son decides that he wants to go fishing with his friend instead of his father for a change however, is very hesitant to ask. The author’s use of techniques such as point of view, selection of detail, and syntax in this passage helps to better characterize the relationship between the father and his son in a deeper and more thorough way.
If you were stuck on the canoe who would you pick, the Bass or Sheila? First, he could always pick Sheila because he has been in love with her forever. He thinks that she is quite beautiful and cares for her greatly. He also adores her because of her long tan legs and enjoys watching her tan during the summer. He thinks her white dress shows off her figure more than her normal bathing suit. He also has the option of taking the Bass over Sheila. This Bass is by far the biggest bass that he has ever seen and has been working to catch it for months. The line was running wild; the Bass was clearly putting up a fight. The rod was bending like no other, and he saw the line tighten but ignored it and stayed focused on Sheila. Why would he choose Sheila
One of the main themes of this story is that sacrifice. The narrator of this story is not given a name but he is fourteen year old. The narrator has a major crush on a women- seventeen year old, Sheila Mant. The narrator finally, and I say finally, asks Sheila on a date via the narrator’s boat. Then the narrator is in a pickle, he catches the biggest bass he ever caught. He has to choose over Sheila on the bass. What does he choose? Sheila of course but towards the end of the story he regrets that decision. Just throughout the story W.D. Wetherel uses many specific imagery. Imagery is a way of writing that the author gives you visual descriptive writing or figurative language. One quote that stood out to me was “There would be other Sheila Mant’s in life, other fish, and though I came close once or twice, it was these secrets, hidden tuggings in the night that claimed me, and I never made that mistake again.”(41) This quote has a lot of meaning in this story
Detail descriptions that could make easy producing a storyboard and the introduction of literary figures, when the actual word is not enough to describe the magnitude of the situation, allow us perceive the complex of what Cheryl is living. “soft bed, old-style neon sign that said “White’s Motel.” Wool socks, leather hiking boots, navy-blue shorts, underwear made of a special quick-dry fabric, and a white T-shirt over a sports bra.” Likewise, literary figures as
In the story “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” a boy takes a girl named Sheila Mant on a date and has to make a difficult decision. That difficult decision is his dream girl or a huge fish that he might never get the chance to catch again. This is a hard choice to make because he loves fishing, but Sheila on the other hand does not. He could pick Sheila because he loves her very much. For the past couple of summers he has been admiring and watching her. When ever she would look or glance towards him he would do something to impress her. One time when she looked over at him and he climbed up onto his diving board and did his best back tuck he could do just to get her attention. Another reason why he could possibly pick her is he thinks
The film At the River I Stand was a very interesting film that went back to the civil rights movement and told the dream that Martin Luther King had and how his dream has come a long way. This film took place in 1968 in Memphis, TN. It focused on how African Americans were excluded out and were paid low wages and worked in poor working conditions. Not only did they go on strike to gain equality, but they also wanted to stand up for what’s right. Being though Martin Luther King was assassinated during this film, African Americans started more riots all over the country to fight for justice.
He confronts internal conflict in the story when he mounts the rod in the boat. The narrator is getting ready for his date with Sheila in the middle of the story, when he “mounted his Mitchell reel on his(made changes to quote) Pflueger spinning reel rod and stuck it in the stern”.(Wetherell 2) The narrator crosses paths with internal conflict as he puts the rod in the boat, allowing for the possibility of getting the bass on his line and causing conflict with Sheila's dislike for fishing. Along with his love of fishing. The narrator also encounters internal conflict when Sheila brings up Eric Caswell. Sheila is speaking to the narrator as they are rowing up the river, in the middle of the story. “Eric Caswells going to be there. He strokes the number four.”(Wetherell 2) The narrator deals with internal conflict when Sheila brings up Eric Caswell because they are on a date with each other and she is thinking about somebody else. To continue, the narrator faces internal conflict when sheila says she thinks fishing is dumb. Sheila is talking to the narrator as they are rowing up river in the middle of the story. “I think fishing is dumb she said, making a face. I mean it is boring and all . Definitely dumb.”(Wetherell 2) The narrator confronts internal conflict when Sheila said that she thinks fishing is dumb since the narrator enjoys fishing and likes Sheila so much. From the
In the story "The Bass, the River and Sheila Mant" by W.D. Wetherall, the narrator acts like someone he 's not to impress a girl. The narrator had been waiting the whole summer to ask out Sheila Mant. Every day he observes her moods and her actions on the lake. When he finally got the guts to ask her out she, said "yes" and they went to a concert. The narrator loved to fish and he practiced all the time. For his big date he cleaned up his boat and got it all nice and shiny to impress Sheila. On their way to the concert there the boy set up his fishing rod, and out of nowhere he felt a gigantic tug on the line. He knew it was a Largemouth Bass. Since Sheila had been telling him how she doesn’t like fishing, the boy did not want her to know that he had his rod out. Right there he had
Wetherell’s story “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant”. The 14-year old narrator is facing a huge predicament. The boy is on a date with the girl of his dreams. The boy and girl are canoeing up a river in Vermont. The young girl, Sheila, has informed the narrator of her disgust of fishing. This is a hefty problem for the boy. The narrator absolutely loves to fish. In fact, during their date he has a pole casted into the water. After hearing this, the boy was determined not give Sheila any knowledge of his favorite hobby. Though, the narrator neglected to discreetly reel in the line. What seemed to be the biggest bass in the river, snagged on the line. There is no way the boy could let Sheila know of this. The rest of the night, the narrator maneuvers the boat perfectly and somehow manages to keep the fish on the line, without Sheila having any knowledge. They finally reach their destination and the boy is faced with a crippling decision. The boy has to either cut the line, letting the fish go, or risk having Sheila lose all interest in him by reeling in the fish. The narrator decides to cut the line and says, “With a sick nauseous feeling in my stomach, I saw the rod unbend”(Wetherell 40). In this quote, the narrator is overcome with a sick feeling for letting that fish go. He knows he has made a mistake. Later that night, Sheila ditches him for a different fellow. The boy was untrue to himself and what he really wanted. Fishing is what really made him happy. The boy learned a lesson that many people still need to learn today. Do not let others influence the way one may act or speak. Be true to oneself, and happiness will
As I read this story, I wonder if the narrator will pick bass or Sheila. It is possible that he’ll pick the bass. Only because bass loves to fish everyday every night he goes fishing still yet he doesn’t hate it. Second of all bass has lots of knowledge in fishing then anything else. He also is really impressive at it and the fish is really big. Sheila is pretty bass likes her she seems kind and knows lots of stuff and always being creped on by bass. Second of all Sheila is older then bass by about 1 year. Last is the funny part is when
Will the narrator pick the Bass or Sheila? He may pick the Bass. Firstly, the boy might pick the bass is because it is his favorite past time. He has a lot of knowledge about fishing; he knows what a bass sounds like from a splash. Fishing is 2nd nature to him; every time he gets his boat