Shark?

Art by Kaitlin

"Are you a shark or are you just labeled 'shark'?" I asked.

"What are we if not a collection of labels?" the shark rejoined.

"Surely there's a truth though - are you a shark?"

"No, I'm just a drawing."

"What?"

"I'm merely a few squiggles with, apparently, a pyramid on top and the word 'shark' written on my body."

What are you even talking about?" You're a fish of some sort.

"Big words for a stick figure!"

"Hey now!"

"Come on - you're an approximation of a person. A handful of lines below a circle. You are no more a person than I am a shark or the squiggles in the sky are birds."

"But I'm certainly to be understood as a person on a boat."

"Sure."

"So, are you to be understood as a shark or are you some other creature masquerading as a shark? While crude, nothing else is labeled here - the semicircle is a boat, the flag-like thing a sail, and the squiggles are birds. You, however, are labeled 'shark'."

"I don't deny it." the supposed shark said, pausing for a moment. "But what makes a drawing of a shark into a shark?"

I paused to ponder this for a moment.

"Motivation?" I shakily replied.

"Motivation? Elaborate."

"Well, I figure if you're to be understood as a shark you must be understood to have a shark's motivation. I suspect that means determining whether or not you want to eat me - a common trope in nautical art."

"Oh, I see," said the shark. "And what might be my motivation otherwise?"

"I... I don't know. Perhaps you're some trickster - I'm reminded of the folk tale of the golden fish. Perhaps your illustrator intended you to pretend to be a shark in order to throw me off the scent."

"Ah, I see. How Augustinian of you - intent matters. Well, I'm labeled as a shark and it seems like I've got some teeth. I can't speak to my intentions beyond that."

"Well," I said, "We're static drawings on a page. You're not going to eat me and I'm not going to catch you. I suppose we have quite a while to figure it out.