Dealing With Conflict
The narrator was a 14 years- old boy who loved fishing and had a crush on a 17 year -old girl named Sheila Mant. Once the narrator saw Sheila he had fallen in love and wanted to talk to her. One day he knew about a concert that was coming and thought that that was a perfect way to ask Sheila to go out with him. When he grew the courage to go asked Sheila to the concert she had said yes and he was exuberant. So later that day the narrator picked Sheila up on his canoe and he brought his fishing gear with him on the boat thinking he would be able fish with her.
Right when they were on the boat on the way to the concert Sheila says that fishing is dumb and he stood there shocked. When he tried to hide his fishing gear he hadn’t realized that he let line out and he had snagged a fish. Once he had seen the fish he saw it was the biggest bass he had ever caught, but he didn’t want Sheila to dislike him but he didn’t want to lose the fish either he was very confused and had to make a decision before it was too late. Then the narrator did what he thought he would never do and cut the line releasing the biggest bass he had ever caught. He was devastated the decision to choose Sheila over the bass and cut the bass loose was the worst decision he had ever done.
When they finally arrived at the concert Sheila she had left him to go with someone else and he was there shocked that he had let the fish go. He handled his conflict by trying to be someone else, and ended up disappointed. I would have dealt with the situation a whole new different way. To start off I would have introduced myself to Sheila about who I am and what I like to do. For example I would tell her that I enjoy fishing and it is one of my favorite hobbies. Then I would ask her the same but about her.
I would ask her about what she likes to do on her spare time and if she has any hobbies. After we have discussed facts about each other I would ask her why she dislikes certain things for example fishing. I would have told her that I brought my fishing gear with me on the canoe because I wanted to do a little bit of fishing before we get there. If she dislikes it then I would tell her to give it a try not hide it from her no matter what her reaction will be. Then I would have showed her that I caught the bass on the line that I had left out right before we left and if she liked it or not, I would have reeled it in anyways.
I wouldn’t like to be with some that dislikes me for my hobbies or who I really am because that isn’t true love. The narrator made bad decision because he chose to be someone else. He also lost a fish that he had never caught all for a vague shot at love. So overall I would have chosen the bass over what Sheila would think of me, and that how I would have dealt with the problem that the narrator faced.
