Plot:
“Fishhead” is the unkind name given to the mixed-race main character who lived by swampy Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. The lake was created by an 1811 series of earthquakes, which caused an area of land to subside and the Mississippi to flood in.
Fishhead’s “half-breed Indian” mother—so the story goes—was frightened by one of the monstrous fish that lived in the lake shortly before Fishhead was born, thus bringing about her offspring’s physical deformities.
He grew up and stayed in a slough by the swampy lake, keeping to himself, “a piece with this setting,” the author tells the reader. “He fitted into it as an acorn fits into its cup.” People told stories about Fishhead: At dusk, some heard a cry “skittering across the darkened waters.” It was Fishhead, calling to the huge, ugly catfish in the lake. They would come, and he’d swim with them and eat with them…
The Baxter brothers, Jake and Joel, come across Fishhead at the skiff landing at Walnut Log one day. Jake and Joel accuse Fishhead of stripping hooked fish off their trot line. They have no evidence of this, but they are drunk. Fishhead answers their accusation in silence. One of them slaps his face. They both receive a fair beatdown for their efforts.
The Baxter brothers find such treatment beneath their dignity and plot revenge.
Thoughts:
The setting of Reelfoot Lake in this short tale is a character in itself. The author takes pains to describe it long before introducing Fishhead, who is part of the land and lake. It sustains those wise enough to understand its ways, but there are also dangers—the skeletons of submerged cypress trees, for example. In some spots, it appears bottomless. In others, it is shallow. And there are always strange creatures and mud—endless mud.
Fishhead’s deformities are not the result of his mixed heritage but the result of the shock his mother experienced shortly before he was born—an old and long-discredited idea. His appearance may be a little hard on the eyes, but he’s well-adapted to his environment and doesn’t bother anyone.
The white Baxter brothers drink, make false accusations, and abuse Fishhead. If their appearance isn’t as ugly as Fishhead’s, their actions are far uglier. They get their collective rear end handed to them—deservedly so—and they can’t accept that a black guy bested them. The story is one of tragedy and unnecessary death brought about by drunk and foolish people who hate without reason someone different from them.
I found this story primarily sad and difficult to read on an emotional level.
Bio: Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944) was an American journalist, humorist, and author. Originally from Paducah, Kentucky, he began writing at the local paper but settled in New York. He wrote for the Saturday Evening Post (among other papers) and covered Americans serving in France during the Great War, particularly the Harlem Hellfighters. Among his most popular series were the stories of Judge Priest. He also worked in film, both in silent and sound productions. “Fishhead” remains one of his most frequently anthologized stories and served as an inspiration for H. P Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.”
This story can be read and listened to here: (29:08)
Title: “Fishhead”
Author: Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944)
First Published: The Cavalier, January 11, 1913
Length: short story:
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
It sounds like a great premise to teach the reader about empathy. It is too bad it is a bit too sad.
Yes, especially considering the time it was written.
Interesting
I recently listened to a series of podcasts about sideshows, which featured people born with deformities. In some of the podcasts they discussed the idea that if a mother was frightened during pregnacy, it could impact the baby. In the past the mothers were sometimes accused of being witches if their babies were born with deformities. It’s amazing what people believed before there was enough understanding of science. Reading your review was interesting because the story reminds me of the podcasts.
Yes! Childbirth itself was such an unpredictable thing, where the mother or the child could be lost, Another idea I heard recently was that disabled children or children with deformities might abandoned in the forest. This may be an origin of the stories of children going away with the fairies or of changelings. How cruel. Sideshows, for all their cruelty, are definitely a step up from that.