The carp is a symbol of both community and
defeat in "The Carp" by Yun Wang.
The carp acts as a symbol of
community, luck, and good tidings when Wang's father catches it. He shares it with everyone at
the school where he is a principal and the students and teachers get to eat it. This is mirrored
by a story about Confucious, who received a carp as a gift from the King of Lu and subsequently
named his son Carp. These seem like positive things between leaders and their communities.
However, the carp doesn't help hold these bonds together and actually brings
sorrow to people. In Confucious's case, his son dies at a young age. For Wang's father, he is
jailed and beaten; some of the people who beat him are students with whom he shared the carp he
caught. Despite the positive interactions and intentions, things still go sour.
Later, Wang says that her friends laugh at her when she tells them about the 20-pound
carp he caught, which shows that it's a figure of myth because such a thing is unlikely and
humorous. It's not the positive thing it seems in every situation. A carp can be a blessing to
be shared at one time but ultimately it is only a fish and cannot protect against hate or death.
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