Big Fish

While watching the movie, Big Fish, we were instructed to identify different types of archetypes in the movie. However, this movie struck me as extremely unique that I wanted to think more in depth about its symbols, characters, meaning, etc.

I remember the movie starting with a memorable quote: "There are some fish that cannot be caught. It's not that they are faster or stronger than other fish, they're just touched by something extra."

I know that one of the main symbols relates to this idiom: "a big fish in a small pond," which basically means a person (the big fish) who is overqualified or extremely influential is limited in a small area (the small pond).

The movie centers around the life of Edward Bloom, the father of William Bloom, who loves telling his unbelievable adventures as he grows and travels. My point? Well, throughout Edward's life, he displays many qualities of being that big fish.

At his son's wedding, he tells a story about how he gave his wedding ring to catch a big uncatchable fish the day that his son was born; which definitely threw me off guard, because I didn't understand the symbolism. They never talked again after Will's wedding. But I believe there is some sort of connection between the adventures that Edward went on as he grew up and his son, Will. I'll elaborate on this.

Edward and Will have a father-son conflict; the father trying to tell his life in astonishing stories while the son is trying to find out his father's "real" life because he doesn't believe in the stories. There's another catch to this. (Get it? Catch? Haha... yeah.) The father is sick and is about to pass away, so the son has a limited time to break through the barrier.

In the beginning, we are to believe that the stories Edward tells are "make believe" because they are so bizarre and have fairy-tale-like qualities to it. In the middle, when Will is cleaning out his father's possessions, his mother tells him that not everything his father tells him is fake. Also, remember the part where Dr. Bennett tells Will what really happened on the day that he was born, and if he had to choose between telling Will the plain one or the fancy one, he'd rather tell him the fancy one?

Well, it seems like the places Edward go to and the things he does there are for the most part, true. However, he adds a "magical" and "memorable" touch to it so it sounds "fancy" and "fascinating."

So...

When Edward was young and he stumbled across the town of Spectre too early (I think Spectre represents stability/perfect life which Edward didn't feel like he was ready yet at the time), he sees a naked lady in the lake (like a big uncatchable fish). I believe that this lady represented his future wife, Sandra. Then, he goes on many adventures and attempts to win Sandra's marriage-in-hand, which he eventually did (he offered a wedding ring). When Will was born, Edward had to "wrestle the big fish and give it his wedding ring." So Edward, representing the big fish, was in conflict with himself to either be "caught" and settled with a family (giving it his wedding ring) or continue to be "uncatchable" and continue with his adventures. So that's the connection with the story about Edward catching the fish on the day Will was born.

Edward continues telling his stories as he's older because that's how he was uncatchable.

"A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way he becomes immortal."

Boa K.