In the short story, “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant”, by W.D.

Wetherell, the author

shows how a wrong decision has consequences that can last for a long period of time.

Wetherell writes, “Before the month was over, the spell she cast over me was gone, but the

memory of that loss bass haunted me all summer and haunts me still.” This quote shows that

the narrator has reflected over his decision and felt like he made the wrong choice. The quote

serves to characterize the narrator as introspective and sorrowful. The narrator realizes that his

love for Sheila Mant was only temporary. In the end, he loses Sheila but he regrets deciding to

leave the bass, which was an outcome that he could control. He chose Sheila, his new love,

over fishing, his old love. The choice the narrator impulsively made haunted him for years.

In the short story, “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant”, by W.D. Wetherell, the author

describes a boy’s desire of fish and a girl named Sheila Mant and shows how infatuation could

take the place of what someone truly cares about. The author writes, “There was a summer in

my life when the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Sheila

Mant.” This quote establishes that the narrator likes fishing and Sheila. The narrator believed

that Sheila was lovelier than fish. The narrator reflects on this time and notes that Sheila may

have not actually been better than a largemouth bass. His love for Sheila was blind and caused

him to reject his true passion, fishing. Sheila did not like fishing, so the narrator tried to change

an aspect of himself for her. The narrator was worried about trying to impress and please

Sheila, so he put her first in his life. Ultimately, the narrator regrets the decision to place Sheila

above his love of fishing.