### Keyword Analysis: "what of this goldfish would you wish summary"
- Core Subject: The keyword explicitly names the short story "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" by Etgar Keret. The user is not looking for general wishes about goldfish, but a summary and analysis of this specific literary work.
- Occasion: This is not a social or celebratory occasion. The context is academic, analytical, or for personal understanding. The user is likely a student preparing for an exam, a book club member needing discussion points, or a reader seeking a deeper understanding of the story's plot, themes, and characters.
- Tone: The tone required is not celebratory or emotional in a greeting-card sense. It must be insightful, analytical, clear, and educational. The goal is to break down a complex story into digestible parts.
- Recipient: The recipient is someone seeking knowledge. They need a clear, well-organized summary that goes beyond a simple plot recount and delves into the story's deeper meanings.
### Invented Categories
Based on this analysis, the "wishes" in the article will not be greeting card messages, but rather key takeaways, plot points, and thematic explorations framed creatively.
1. Wishes of the Characters: Unpacking Their Deepest Desires
2. A Summary of Wishes Granted & Denied: The Plot Unfolded
3. The Story's True Wish: Exploring Core Themes and Ideas
4. More Than Just a Fish: What the Goldfish Symbolizes
5. The Final, Selfless Wish: A Look at the Story's Powerful Conclusion
Unpacking the Three Wishes: Your Complete "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" Summary
Etgar Keret’s short story, "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" is a small tale with an immense heart. On the surface, it’s a modern-day fairytale about a man, a magical fish, and a nosy filmmaker. But beneath the water's surface, it's a profound exploration of loneliness, the barriers that separate us, and the quiet, selfless acts that have the power to connect us in the most unexpected ways.
If you're looking to understand the key events, character motivations, and powerful themes of this story, you've come to the right place. This summary breaks down the narrative into its most essential components, helping you grasp the brilliance and poignancy of Keret's work.
Wishes of the Characters: Unpacking Their Deepest Desires
The story is driven by the conflicting desires of its two main human characters. Understanding what they want is key to understanding the plot.
- Yoni’s Wish List:
- To find a captivating, authentic story for his documentary.
- To capture something magical and profound on camera.
- To achieve success and recognition for his filmmaking.
- To connect with the "real" people of Israel.
- For people to open their doors and their hearts to him and his project.
- To understand the core desires that drive humanity.
- Ultimately, he wishes for a story so good it will sell to a major network.
- Sergei’s Wish List:
- To be left alone in peace and quiet.
- To protect his secret—the magical, talking goldfish.
- To escape the memories of his troubled past in Russia.
- To maintain the simple, solitary life he has built for himself.
- For people to stop knocking on his door.
- To hold onto his last two wishes for something truly important.
- His deepest wish is simply for companionship without complication, which the goldfish provides.
A Summary of Wishes Granted & Denied: The Plot Unfolded
The story's action is a sequence of events where one character’s wishes directly interfere with another’s, leading to a dramatic climax.
1. The Project: A young filmmaker, Yoni, begins a documentary project, asking strangers what they would wish for if they had a magic goldfish.
2. The Search: Yoni finds that most people’s wishes are predictable and uninspired. He searches for someone different, someone with a true story.
3. The Discovery: He decides to knock on doors randomly in a modest neighborhood and comes to the home of a Russian immigrant named Sergei Goralick.
4. The Intrusion: Despite Sergei’s clear reluctance and language barrier, the pushy Yoni forces his way inside.
5. The Reveal: Yoni spots the goldfish in a jar and, assuming it’s the subject of Sergei’s own potential wish, moves closer with his camera.
6. The Panic: Fearing Yoni will expose his secret, Sergei panics. He grabs a stove burner and strikes Yoni on the head.
7. The Consequence: Yoni falls, cracks his head, and dies on Sergei’s floor.
8. The Dilemma: Sergei is left with a dead body and a terrible choice. He has already used two of his three wishes.
9. The First Wish: Sergei’s first wish was to cure his sister's lung cancer.
10. The Second Wish: His second wish was to cure his beloved Sveta's son of a brain issue, but she left him anyway.
11. The Final Choice: Sergei must now decide whether to use his final, precious wish to save the life of the boy who invaded his home and threatened his peace.
The Story's True Wish: Exploring Core Themes and Ideas
What is the story *really* wishing to tell us? Its power lies in the universal themes it explores with such elegant simplicity.
- The Pain of Loneliness: Both Yoni and Sergei are profoundly lonely, but in different ways. Yoni seeks connection through a camera lens, while Sergei seeks to avoid it altogether.
- Barriers to Communication: The language barrier between Hebrew and Russian is obvious, but the deeper barrier is cultural and emotional. Neither man can understand the other's true intentions.
- The Immigrant Experience: Sergei’s character highlights the isolation, suspicion, and longing for peace that can accompany leaving one's homeland for another.
- Selfishness vs. Selflessness: The story poses a critical question: are our desires for ourselves or for others? This is the central conflict in Sergei’s final decision.
- The Nature of Desire: The story suggests that what we think we wish for (fame, fortune) is often shallow compared to what truly matters (connection, health, peace).
- Kindness in Unexpected Places: The ultimate act of kindness comes from the character who seems the most hostile and closed-off.
- Magic in the Mundane: Keret masterfully places a fantastical element (a talking fish) in a gritty, realistic setting, asking us to consider where we find magic in our own lives.
More Than Just a Fish: What the Goldfish Symbolizes
The goldfish is more than a plot device; it’s a rich symbol representing several key ideas.
1. Companionship: For Sergei, the fish is his only friend and confidant. It's the one being he can talk to without fear.
2. Hope: The fish represents the possibility of a miracle, the power to fix the unfixable.
3. Burden: Holding onto the wishes, especially the last one, is a heavy responsibility for Sergei. The fish is a source of both power and anxiety.
4. The "Other": Like Sergei, the goldfish is an outsider—magical, different, and trapped in a small, isolated world (the jar).
5. Conscience: In the final moments, the goldfish acts as Sergei’s conscience, urging him to do the right thing and use the last wish.
6. Untapped Potential: The wishes represent life's great "what ifs." Most people, as Yoni discovers, don't even know what to do with such potential.
7. Connection to the Past: The fish is Sergei's last link to the magic he found back in the "old country," a reminder of a life before his current isolation.
The Final, Selfless Wish: A Look at the Story's Powerful Conclusion
The climax of the story hinges entirely on Sergei’s final decision, revealing his true character.
- Sergei is faced with a choice: keep the wish for himself or use it to resurrect the intrusive stranger on his floor.
- Keeping the wish means preserving his one source of companionship—the talking goldfish.
- Using the wish means saving a life but losing his friend and any hope for a future miracle for himself.
- The goldfish, with "a sad, sober look," tells Sergei that if he doesn't use the wish, the fish will leave anyway.
- Sergei’s choice to revive Yoni is an act of pure selflessness. He sacrifices his own deepest desire for companionship for the life of another.
- When Yoni comes back to life, he has no memory of the event, highlighting that a good deed is still good even if no one knows it happened.
- The story ends with Sergei utterly alone. His magical companion is now just a regular fish.
- The final image is one of profound solitude, yet it is a solitude chosen through an act of incredible moral strength. Sergei has lost his magic but has affirmed his humanity.
### A Final Thought
This summary provides a map to the heart of Etgar Keret's story, but the best way to experience its power is to let it sink in. Consider the story's questions in your own life. What are your deepest wishes? What barriers prevent you from connecting with others? "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" is more than a story; it’s a mirror, asking us what we value most. Use these points as a guide, but don't forget to add your own personal interpretation to the rich and wonderful tale.