… ing rod though and kept it. Gus then goes into a short of depression after he ‘loses’ Eddy and the next day he speaks with the River Why about it on page 163:” … This isn’t a good morning””WHY””Because I will never see her again ” Gus realizes after his encounter with Eddy and after talking to the river, that the river gave no answers only questions. He yells at the river after it replies why to his answer on page 163 saying: “I don’t know, dammit! And I don’t know why she ran away or why I had to see her at all when I’ll never see her again, or why she smiled but ran, or laughed but ran, or talked to me but ran, or asked my name but ran, but God she was beautiful, and she fished like, like, like Thomas and Ma and H 20 and Piscator put together, and I think I might go crazy if I never see her again.” He goes on to answer the question ‘why’, from a friend’s mouth, this time, and says he loves her.
This is the point in Gus’s life where he is in love but has no idea of what to do about it. After a while he tries to get over his whole ordeal with Eddy and then a talk with Titus about his encounter with the beautiful woman, sets him off again. Titus gives him some philosophical books to help Gus sort out this problem and gives Gus some helpful words of encouragement. Titus explains to Gus on page 168 “She knows your name; she knows your river; she might guess you have her pole and fish; she might come to t get them.” Gus tries to fulfill his life with these books and the new friends he has meet along the way, but he can not get Eddy off of his mind. Even when he goes to visit his parents at home and Bill Bob questions Gus about what he has been doing, Gus lets Eddy’s name slip. Bill Bob gave Gus encouragement of seeing Eddy by his questions and his mouse story of hope.
Gus states on page 195: .”.. that if a mouse could sing I just might see Eddy again.” Along his journeys to fulfill his life, Gus comes across a writer for a newspaper article and made up a story to the over zealous, unskilled fisherman. In the end of the article he put a note to Eddy, trying to reach out to her, on page 217: “Will the girl who ran form the guy who recited Izaak Walton I the tree please contact Gus on the other river he named. He has your rod and fish and wants to return them.
He is totally harmless, but urges you to bring a loaded fun if frightened, as long as you come. Thank you.” Through out his waiting and searching for Eddy, Gus changes dramatically. He feels the need for his live to be fulfilled, and he strives for it by doing new things. He acquires a new load of friends and things from swapping, but he was sad for those who did not have what he could have and .”.. also because I had so much to share, but nobody to share it with.” (221) Then Gus goes into making her a rod like her old one, but with improvements. Like a 14 foot pole, belly reel with a waist strap and some good line in it.
It was for the hope to see Eddy once again and this time he was striving to make a good impression on Eddy. Then one day, on a walk back from a Halloween party he finally gets what he has been waiting for. Gus describes the incident on page 259: “Keeping to the shadows, I shook my head, drew a deep breath and looked again: she was really there! It was Eddy it was Eddy, alone in my cabin, waiting for me.” This is what Gus had been striving for, is to see her and get to know her. Gus had completely changed because of his first meeting with Eddy and the thought of never seeing her again. Then all of the sudden she was there and he felt great, but was nervous because he had been working so hard to impress her. He knows though, that he must be more forward and more of himself than before.
After making some small talk you notice that Eddy is also a little unsure about Gus, because she brings a squirt gun, and is kind of guarded in her actions. They talk and both open up to each other. Gus asks her about their first meeting with each other and she told him what really happened on page 262: “I never ran away, I was barefoot; I’d been camped just upstream for three days; I wanted my pole and fish back; so I just hid in the woods.” … “You were a mess!” … “The sort that shivers and sweats and sighs and talks to himself, curses himself, groans to himself. The sort that says ‘Eddy, Eddy, Eddy’ over and over and over.” Gus then starts to bring himself out and shows it to her by explaining his thoughts on that first encounter.
He explains to her that he could not help but fall for her, with her stunning looks and way of fishing. The way she looked at things, did things and thought about the world intrigues Gus. He explains how he did not know what was right or polite and how helpless he felt at their first meeting. Gus also explains to Eddy how her honest beauty was captivating and he could help how he acted.
Eddy starts to realize that Gus is not some weirdo jerk, and that his life was interesting and worth learning about after hearing stories of Gus the great fisherman. Eddy sees more in Gus than she thought she would, so she decides to come back the next day to talk. The next day she gives Gus a plan that he must follow of catching a fish with her techniques. He finds his equilibrium on page 274 “Equilibrium derived from a kind of inner balance: it transmitted itself from the soul to the mind, and from the mind to the body, and when a man possessed of it put his hand to an art or craft he was capable of unheard of feats.” Gus’s equilibrium was his love for Eddy and he states on the same page “Why shouldn’t love be my Equilibrium? Why shouldn’t love be the forceless force running through the wound and into the fish? Couldn’t love create that sacred balance? Wouldn’t love dissolve all stress?” Eddy also changes as person because she stays longer and longer with Gus, doing all sorts of things together, eventually marrying Gus.
They both find their equilibrium in each other. Gus re-finds his fishing passion through Eddy, but looks on everything in a whole different way. Eddy gave Gus motivation to know himself and he fulfills the emptiness. He got the two loves of his life: fishing and Eddy..