'A Good Catch' explores the plight of a lonely old fisherman through the use of magical realism. Cynical and without hope, Peter has gone for months without catching any fish. Blind to the kindness and optimism of an eager young boy, Peter insists on returning to the same point to fish everyday. Finally venturing out a little further, Peter battles with a big catch, hauling an unidentifiable sea creature onto his humble boat. Unable to reference the creature in any text, Peter brings it in to port, bound tight under a fishing net. In a drunken stupor, Peter scares the inquisitive young boy away before collapsing on deck and missing the miraculous spectacle of the creature 'dancing' around his boat. On waking to find the creature inert but free of it's binds, Peter stumbles across the boy's science fiction magazine, revealing illustrations of the creature within it's pages. Shamed but with renewed belief, Peter invites the boy to sail with him and return the creature back to the ocean. As the creature descends back into the deep, Peter is rewarded with a magical and plentiful catch of fish.
John 21 is a striking description of a tangible miracle occurring after the resurrection. Like the biblical (Simon) Peter, our hero is a doubting protagonist. Shunning the advice of local fishermen he aimlessly tries to go it alone and is also blind to the words and deeds of his eventual saviour who desperately tries to assist him. In John 21 Peter also fails to catch any fish and does not recognise Jesus as he appears to him on the shore. He has witnessed several miracles before this event, including a miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5, and his belief and loyalty to Jesus are tested throughout. Our hero has also lost his own belief over time, in himself and in other people, but is faced with having to accept the existence of something beyond himself and seek help and forgiveness from the boy. Even when he has caught the alien creature Peter doubts. It is only through accepting and seeing the world through the eyes of the boy that he is saved and rewarded.