The Rainbow Fish
Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish. NordSüd Verlag, 1992. 25 pages.
In Marcus Pfister’s story of The Rainbow Fish, a unique fish with shiny scales seems to be the fish of them all, until he loses all of his fellow fish friends because of his actions. The rainbow fish was the most beautiful fish in the ocean, but he was too conceited about it. When another little fish asked him for a shiny scale, he quickly said no. The rainbow fish didn’t think he would be the same fish if he I didn’t have all his fins. Because of the way he responded to all little fish, all the fish in the water stayed away from him, but the didn’t know why. The rainbow fish then gets directed to the wise octopus by the starfish to receive some advice. The wise octopus tells the rainbow fish to give away his scales. After his unwillingness to do so, he eventually does. The rainbow fish keeps one shiny fin and ends up being less beautiful than he was in the beginning, but now liked by all the other fish in the sea.
A few of the main messages Pfister was trying to put across were about conceitedness, sharing, and selfishness. Also, looking at the scales as being materialistic, it portrays that one does not need superficial objects. Also, looking at the book from a broader perspective, it can be looked at as the happiness of the individual vs. the happiness of the group and the idea that beauty doesn’t always lead to happenings.
When analyzing Pfister’s text, through the plot line, the book revolves around the character development of the rainbow fish. In the beginning of the book, the rainbow fish is very full of himself. He likes the attention he got from all the other fish because of how he looked. Throughout the book, the fish loses his friends, but then hears wise advice from the octopus and chooses to listen. By the end of the book, he becomes genuine and friendlier to all the other fish in the sea. The author also uses a lot of dialogue in the story to give the idea that the reader actually knows the fish. Whether the rainbow fish was talking to the little blue fish, the octopus, or the fish in the end, the dialogue helps give a clear picture for the character development. Lastly, the rainbow fish internally questions the possibilities.
Give away my scales? My beautiful shining scales? Never. How could I ever be happy without them?
The illustrations in the story relate really well to the text. The shiny foil that was use in there book definitely catch the eye of the reader and gives more significance to the idea of the rainbow fish being unique. The texture is also different, so too little kids, it keeps them engaged. The light blue colors used to represent the sea allow the other colors of the fish to pop out. As far as the composition on the pages in the book, the author uses his blank space very well. With the words on the pages too, the placement of the fish actually makes them look as if they are swimming. The illustrations are not flat and give a more realistic idea of the water.
In the mind of the child, a few questions that can rise from The Rainbow Fish, consist of: Why was the rainbow fish the only one that was colorful? Why did the fish stop talking to him? Can’t the rainbow fish do what he wants with his own fins? Why did he give his fins away and only keep one? Some of these questions may seem simple, but they all tie to the messages that were trying to be portrayed. From the questions above, is fair to assume a child will compare this to something they want, but they don’t have. To a child, in the end, they may take away the simple lesson of sharing is caring. And they will be able to recognize that giving something to another individual makes them happy.
It also important to recognize the fact that in the beginning of the story, the rainbow fish allows the other fish to define him because of his beauty. Because of the validation he wants from others, he sees himself as not being good. This common theme can be referred to as lack of confidence. He doesn’t believe he is good enough, so he needs to hear it from others. The lack of self-confidence and the idea that one always wants something they don’t have are problems that have become more common in society. Therefore, the cultural lessons that can be taken away from this story are that beauty doesn’t always bring happiness and sometimes sharing and giving up something that one cherishes can have a bigger impact on others, more than the individual thinks.
The branch of philosophy that this story falls under is aesthetics because of the idea that each fish in the story is striving to be the most beautiful creature.