The Speaker
The speaker is struck and moved by the presence of the tuna. Since the fish is dead and cannot communicate, the speaker is in a sense actually the poem's only character, and his reaction to the fish reflects his (or her) own concerns and personality. He displays a mix of sensitivity and exuberant appreciation. The sight of the fish fills him with a gleeful apprehension of the unknown undersea world, but his thrilled reaction to the fish as an emblem of freedom and mystery also suggests that he is bored and somewhat depressed by the mundanity of everyday life. This is all the more true given that the fish is dead—the speaker's symbol of freedom from monotony is present but not alive, adding to this character's odd mix of ennui and hope.
The Tuna
The tuna is in many ways a symbol rather than a character, representing a great deal to the speaker while doing nothing at all. However, the speaker constructs the fish as a symbol in response to certain material realities about it: these material realities are what make up the fish as a character, independent of the symbolic significance the speaker attaches to it. One of these realities is the tuna's size and strength. Despite being dead, it is large and powerful-looking. Another one of these realities is the tuna's experience and trajectory. It has taken a long, strange journey from the ocean to a market on land. These basic truths make up the entirety of what we know about the fish itself; any additional significance is added through the speaker's imagination.
