What I picked up on, after looking it up mostly, were themes of jealously/envy, friendship, purity, that sorta stuff

So think you can help in some way?

Also memories.

It really seems to mostly be about reminiscing a past friendship.

So hence: "Memories."

I didn't seem to find any jealousy or envy coming from the prot. but it seems he kept the fish due to his gratitude, he had no reason to hate the fish other than find it irritating to take and look over it, but due to his amicable friendship with his friend Aoki he decided to take care of the fish, he had a strong relationship with Aoki, they never agreed nor disagreed with many things because as it says in the book *The only time he had ever shown displeasure with me had been over the carp* meaning that the Aoki also had a strong connection to the fish because he had given it to him, as a sign of friendship? Either way it was a gift. The prot. seemed to have valued the friendship with Aoki and therefore took care of the fish because of this and because it was the only thing they showed *displeasure*, still even after his death he went and fished for it and made sure to carefully word himself as to not sound self-centered (self-centered might not be the right word here), released it in the pool nonetheless where he felt the fish should live the rest of his days, because of this strong connection, everyday he would go seeking for the fish because the fish is reminsicing of the friendship he had with Aoki even if he not much of a connection to the fish on a personal level, when he saw the fish again after such time has passed he was joyful to see this fish again, quietly approaching the fish's location as to not to disturb it and preserve the tranquility in the athmosphere, despite the frozen condition in which the pool was, he still wanted to one day come and see that fish again one day so he could feel that same joy he felt when he first saw it on that *warm, oppresive night* , he was content because the fish that was his friends, that was his fish, the fish that he had kept so long, being apethetic if the fish was dead or alive that he might see that fish again, he saw that fish as the king of that pool, that's why he drew those fish so stupidly .

my advice is

drop out

I could try to shorten my explanation

because I wrote this as I re-read

I have better words, but to say the least, it was a cute story.

Well what I got regarding the jealousy was over the mistress specifically

for instance, when he sees her shoes at his house on the day he likely died, he simply leaves while leaving the cactus there. Furthermore he has to clarify when bringing up the letters that it was completely innocent, and he does this for both his letter and her response. Also he leaves the cactus as the parting gift on the grave iirc, rather than something that'd represent the friendship such as a toy carp

While it's absolutely not a central or main theme, I do feel like it's ever so slightly there

One thing I should also mention that pure white koi are very valuable

in japan

Yeah

Sign of purity and luck iirc?

Yes

Alright 👍

So, being 2AM, let's try to quickly turn this into an essay

(quickly cause I also need to do a journal response and quickly jot down notes for a powerpoint)

So, how should I format this? It needs to be 3 page minimum, but even with everything you said, Roo said, and mine, it doesn't feel like it'll break that minimum in a way where it'll be acceptable overall

Oh I was rereading one source and it turns out I misremembered/misunderstood

the cactus being there was an accident, and it wasn't out of jealousy he left

Give me a sec I'm typing something

I don't want to write here I'll copy and paste

Wait is this fiction or non-fiction?

I'm unsure

this story specifically

yeh

I think it's a blend of fictional elements with non-fiction?

Like Aoki did exist, and did die

But apparently the gf and carp is never mentioned in other stories

Yeah i was just asking because I don't what to call the person who's writing this, the protagonist, the author?

🆙 | **nrg leveled up!**

author yeah

it's in his own perspective

I'd just put narrator

^

that makes it ambiguous enough