The final scene

Author: ryanmb84 from United States
27 April 2006
I have appreciated the comments made above but the half dozen I read all missed something. Referring to the final scence people liken it to how hallow life in Rome was during that time period. I appreciate this interp, however this is only part of it. to focus on that is too miss the internal element. The fish in the last scene is symbolic of Christianity, the beautiful women in the distance is his calling. She is the embodiment of innonence and purity, to receive his call would not be just a different lifestyle, it would be a rejection of all the old for a new life. But he cannot hear it or cannot accept it. He is exhausted. He has chased to many callings.His conscious is seared, he has become hardened by life, all he can muster is a smile and then to turn his back. And what has she lost, nothing, she goes on all the same, only momentarly disheartened. It is an incredibly beautiful and romantic self-destruction.