and Power Hughes presents the pike as fearless and strong He describes Pike A hundred feet long in their world These fish are aware of their strength and power in their environment Pike fish are confident in their power This nature of the fish reflects human desires for dominance and control Many humans seek power over others Humans often use violence to assert this control By drawing this parallel Hughes shows that just as pike prey on others and even turn against each other humans too can display similar behaviors Humans are violent and they turn against each other when driven by ambition or survival instincts Cannibalism and Self-Destruction In the poem Hughes describes keeping three Pike together but they end up attacking and killing each other until only one remains Three we kept behind glass Suddenly there were two Finally one With a sag belly and the grin it was born with This behavior suggests self-destruction Humans also exhibit this quality especially in times of conflict or competition Wars and fights among people often lead to destruction The inherent violence in humans can turn them against each other Uncontrollable Destruction Hughes poem suggests that both the pike and humans can destroy without limit or reason In the last part of the poem the speaker describes an enormous pond that is as deep as England The pond is filled with pike so immense that he is afraid to fish at night This fear is a reminder of how humans can also create fear and destruction that become uncontrollable Hughes subtly hints that just as the pike rules the pond with its power humans often seek to dominate others The Darkness Within In the final lines Hughes uses the phrase darkness beneath night s darkness to create an image of something hidden watching from below This darkness can be understood as the violence that exists within humans something deep and often hidden but capable of emerging In conclusion through Pike Ted Hughes suggests that violence is a part of our nature just like the pike The poem uses the fish s aggressive instincts to show that humans share a similar tendency for power survival and destruction