Structure

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Title

The title of the short story is very simple, but it does not reveal deeper aspects of the relationship between the father and his two children. The title only depicts that readers are going to read about a family supper, probably between parents and children.

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Beginning

The short story begins rather abruptly, with what seems to be an interesting fact about a fish:

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Middle

The conversation between the son and the father is very formal and contains short replies. While the two talk, a portrait of the father is given:

“My father was a formidable-looking man with a large stony jaw and furious black eyebrows. (…) His general presence was not one which encouraged relaxed conversation; neither were things helped much by his odd way of stating each remark as if it were the concluding one.” (p. 198, ll. 24-30)

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Ending

The three characters have supper and the few replies they exchange are rather formal and nervous. The food served at supper might hint at the fact that the father has hidden intentions with his children. He serves the children fish, but he does not tell them the fish’s name when he is asked.

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