Watson and the Shark

The boy's favorite painting was called "Watson and the Shark".
He would stand for hours and gaze deeply into the painting.
What intrigued the boy so much ?
Maybe it was how menacing the shark looked or the grave peril the boy felt for Watson ?
One day while studying the painting, a group of people crowded around him.
They were listening to a woman in a blue jacket.
She said the man holding the rope and the man in the water were doppelgangers.
The boy wasn't sure what this meant, but he could almost feel the savagery of shark's bite.
Given a choice, he'd rather be the man in the boat.
When he grew up, he would bring his children to see the painting.
They would all stand around the painting and talk about who they would be:
Watson, the Shark or the man with the rope.

Identity is in the eye of the beholder.

"Watson and the Shark" John Singleton Copley 1778