The Analysis Of A Short Story By W. D. Wetherell
W. D. Wetherell wrote a short story that lots of teenage boys can most likely relate to. The story tells how there is a boy who dreams over this older prettier girl. He drools over her all summer and then towards the end of summer, he finally finds the courage to ask her out on a date.
The narrator (who is never identified) asks her to go to a local concert with him, she said yes! He seemed excited and slightly nervous. Sheila asked if he had a car as a way of transportation to get to the concert. He proposed the idea of a canoe. Sheila was not opposed to that idea. He spent the rest of his day before the date preparing the boat by cleaning it, putting a radio on the canoe and most importantly he put a fishing rod on the boat without thinking about it. The time of the date comes around and he is all excited about the canoe that he fixed up for the night. He still is in shock at how beautiful Sheila is.
As he is rowing the canoe, casual conversations come about and somehow Sheila starts talking and she reveals how she thinks fishing is stupid and boring. The narrator is a huge fan of fishing and is very knowledgeable about fish. The whole trip from Sheila’s house to the concert the narrator was now worried about if Sheila will see the fishing pole and see that he is a fisher. He feels that if he reveals his fishing skills to Sheila he will lose her. As the ride to the concert continues, the narrator gets a catch on his fishing pole of most likely the greatest catch of his life. He is constantly struggling to pay attention to both the fish and Sheila, as this is happening all Sheila does talk about parties and her pale skin. As he is struggling to disperse his attention between the fish and Sheila, the fish is beginning to occupy all of his thoughts.
After this, back and forth in his head about the fish and Sheila, they arrive at the concert and the narrator loses the fish for the girl he is interested in. He sacrificed an extraordinary catch for this dream girl. The two finally dock at the concert. The narrator is so distracted by the lost bass, that he is hardly present for their date. He dubiously recalls dancing with Shelia Mant and eating popcorn.
At the end of the night, Sheila notifies him that she’s going home with a different guy who drives a fancy car. The thoughts of Shelia Mant vanish within a month. But he never forgets losing that bass because he wanted to impress her. From that day on, he never made the mistake of rejecting his passions for the interests of another person, especially one as faithless as Shelia Mant. Throughout this story, the underlying message to the readers starts to shine through. W.D. Wetherell’s message is for young people not to live life with regrets. Wetherell use of imagery and verbal irony helps the audience truly understand not live life having regrets.
