Ullmann is a freelance writer and editor. In the following essay, Ullmann examines the function of memory in McCorkle's short story.

McCorkle's short story “Fish” is something of a memoir, capturing for the reader particular events in the lives of the narrator and her dying father. While the narrator's theme is resurrection, her method is memory. The sequence of memories is not strictly chronological, and this story does not pretend to be the narrator's autobiography. Autobiographies tend to be more committed to spanning the history of a person's entire life. Memoirs tend to be more topical, consisting of bits of experience, selected to illustrate a particular theme. In this story, the narrator characterizes her now dying father by remembering scenes and experiences with him from her childhood. Through memories she shows his courage and quick action in saving his cat, his pride and compassion in carrying his...