The Boat, by Alistair Macleod, serves as a spectacular foundation for a thought provoking piece of art. With every word of the short story laced with archetypal symbolism and allusions that create a motion picture in your head, it makes it irresistible not to take the story to a visual level.
Beginning with the base of the piece, the glass fish bowl represents the family as a whole. We specifically chose a glass bowl to represent the fragility of the family. All the relationships in the family were strained and near the end if one more conflict arose. For example, the mother and father’s relationship was under severe pressure from their opposing beliefs towards the narrator's education. The choice of the round bowl was centralized on the symbolism…show more content… The sea also connects to the mother's power over her family. The sea is deep and dark as you reach the bottom which is where she forcefully imprisons her husband and her family. The waves show her current emotions towards her life; the bigger waves representing the anger and hatred is build up deep inside her. The sea is painted with textures and multiple shades of blue and green to show that she is not as pure and elegant as she appears, instead she’s an endless supply of turbulent waters. The mother appears strong and independant like the sea waves out in town, although below the tides she too has struggles and disappointments. Based on the intensity of the sea, we placed symbols to represent each member of the family at different depths to show their involvement in the mother’s inner…show more content… The fishing rod is literally and figuratively holding the father up. It literally supports him as it keeps him preoccupied by working instead of interacting with his deep inner conflict. The fishing rod figuratively motivates the father because of the graduation cap and diploma “controlling” the rod, pushing him to keep working so he can give his son the education they both dream of. The father’s dedication to his son’s education is demonstrated at the end of the story when he sacrifices his life for his son's education by committing suicide. The father always knew inside that if he didn’t end his life, the son would never go to university and only continue in his miserable
