The Fourteenth Goldfish

Some of the book’s characters feel great passion for their pursuits. Two of them, Brianna and Melvin, get sidetracked in a search for glory, and they suffer losses because of it.

Lissa has always wanted to be in theatre. She married an actor; she teaches drama at the high school; she resists intense pressure from her father, Melvin, to abandon what she loves and take up what he thinks she should do instead. Ellie watches as they argue, and she sees that her mom sticks to her guns and persists in following the career she loves, even if it angers her father.

Ellie’s lifetime best friend, Brianna, suddenly abandons her for a newfound commitment to volleyball. It’s a demanding sport that takes up a lot of time, and her teammates fill her life with friendship. She no longer needs Ellie and loses interest in being with her: The glory of sports victory is too enticing. The path proves difficult, and Brianna fails to make the team. Her life suddenly empty of purpose, she returns to Ellie, seeking to renew the friendship, but Ellie no longer trusts her, and meanwhile, she’s made new friends of her own.

In her search for glory, Brianna sacrifices important parts of her life that she can’t recover when her dreams don’t come true. Volleyball still beckons—beyond the prestige of it, perhaps it’s something she loves for itself—and she’ll try again the following year. But now she knows that the chance for acclaim is a separate desire that can turn a person’s head and cause her to mistreat those who love her.

Though Melvin feels passionate about his work, he also wants to be famous. His rejuvenation discovery is a breakthrough, but his thoughts of fame overwhelm his simple interest in the science itself: “They’re going to give me a Nobel! […] Melvin Herbert Sagarsky will be a household name!” (18)

By secretly testing the rejuvenation drug on himself, Melvin turns the clock back on his body and emerges as a teenage boy whom none of his colleagues recognize. He’s thus trapped inside a persona who can no longer continue his work at the lab. Few things are more frustrating to a person than making a tremendous contribution and being completely disregarded; thus, Melvin falls into the trap of focusing on personal glory above all else.

Ellie also discovers a great passion; like Melvin’s, hers is for science. She must, though, stand up to forces arrayed against that pursuit. Her mother doubts whether science contains the intensity that sustains careers, but Ellie speaks up for scientists and their great devotion to research. Recognizing Ellie’s determination of spirit, Lissa accepts that her daughter might be onto something after all.

Ellie must face down her grandfather when she concludes that rejuvenation isn’t for everyone and might not be a good thing to give to humanity. Her strong defense of her belief overcomes Melvin’s objections and convinces him she could be right.

Melvin and Brianna suffer failures because their pursuits veer off-course, from passion to glory. Ellie and Lissa stand firm, not for honors but for the pure joy of their callings.