Big Fish: the fish as a metaphor for life

big fish (2003), directed by Tim Burton, is a film loaded with symbolism and metaphors about life. It does not present gothic, dark and sinister scenarios typical of Burton, but quite the opposite: big fish It is color, light and harmony.

The movie focuses on the life of Edward Bloom and his relationship with his son: Will, who lives in Paris with his pregnant wife. It’s been a few years since his relationship with his father deteriorated and they communicate through his mother, Sandra. One day, Sandra calls her son to tell him that His father is seriously ill, so Will travels with his wife to visit him..

The father-son relationship

Edward and Will had had a good relationship during Will’s childhood., but over time it cooled down. Edward is known for narrating extraordinary feats, with even more extraordinary beings (giants, witches, werewolves…); Will liked these stories when he was little, but when he grew up, he realized that they were unreal and a desire emerged in him to know the truth about his father. Will does not accept that his father does not stick to real events in his stories.

Will He tries to convince his father to tell him the truth, but Edward is very proud of his stories and it is something that is not going to change, not even for his son. The paradox is that Will is a writer, that is, he tells unreal stories that do not exist and have never existed. We see that Edward and Will, deep down, are not so different: one tells his stories and the other writes them.

Will has problems accepting his father, he distrusts him and has even invented some hypotheses to try to justify his absences during his childhood. In the vital moment in which he finds himself, he becomes a kind of replacement for his father: Edward’s life is running out; another is on the way and Will will be the father figure his son needs.

At first, Will judges his father, criticizing him and considering that he has not been a good example; However, the task of being parents is not easy and, now, he must face that situation. He wants to be a father totally different from his own.wants to tell his son the truth, but little by little, Will will end up accepting his father, understanding what his truth is; His father will leave him his stories as a legacy and he will take over.

The metaphors in Big Fish

big fish It is a kind of story that presents and mixes a great diversity of narratives, of episodes; is the story of the life of Edward Bloom. The last name is something that is given to us at birth, Bloom means to bloom and that is what Edward does, just like flowers, he is born, reaches his maximum splendor and, little by little, he will wither. There are many metaphors that appear in the film, so I am going to try to allude to the most important or interesting ones:

The fish

When Edward narrates his childhood adventures, the fish already appears as an important figure. The fish is the common thread of the film, it is present from beginning to end, it is Edward’s own metaphor. When he was a child, he read about a fish that adapted its size to the place it was in and, in the wild, could triple its size.

Edward understands that he is like the fish and that the fish tank is his limitations. Edward realizes that, to achieve everything he wants, he will have to manage precisely by recognizing those limitations already given.. Continuing with the metaphor, when we leave the fish tank we achieve freedom, we decide our actions and we achieve greatness. At the same time, leaving the fish tank can be scary because we don’t know what’s outside.

The eye

What are we going to fear if we already know what our end is? In Edward’s childhood stories, a witch appears who has a glass eye that, if you look at it, shows you the way you will die; Edward sees it, knows how he is going to die and accepts it. When you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you face it and tell yourself “this is not how I’m going”, therefore, you overcome the obstacles and can continue on your path. Edward accepts her destiny, the same as that of all humans: death, he faces it and overcomes it, he does not let fear take over him.

Ashton

It is Edward’s fishbowl, the town where he is born, a small and limited town for a man of great aspirations and dreams. Despite this, he enjoys a great reputation among his neighbors and could achieve great things within his fish tank, without having to face too many obstacles.

The fish tank is our comfort zone, conformism, the place where we feel safe and from which it is difficult to leave, but it is a place where learning is limited. That’s why Edward decides to face the unknown and leave his comfort zone.

Spectrum

After leaving Ashton and embarking on your journey, you will encounter various obstacles that you will have to overcome until you reach Specter, a utopian town where all its inhabitants go barefoot, where nothing ever happens. There, he meets a former resident of Ashton, Norther Winslow, a well-known poet in the town who, like Edward, was destined for great things and therefore undertook the same journey. However, Norther has been caught by another hook and is no longer able to continue composing poems, has fallen into another fish tank: Espectro, which despite being a wonderful place, is still another comfort zone.

Edward considers staying, but reacts and continues on his way, he still has a long way to go.. The name Specter is not chosen at random, it refers to ghosts, apparitions… and, in addition to being a fish tank, it is also a deceptive place, there is a fish in the river that Edward mistakes for a woman because Depending on the person looking at it, different things are seen that represent the individual’s desires. Here, we see Edward’s desire to find a woman.

The ring

For a fish to reach its maximum size, it should not allow itself to be caught, Edward must avoid all those hooks that will appear in his life.. She should avoid entering a fish tank again, at least until she has managed to achieve all her goals and reach the learning zone. But If the right hook presents itself, we can all fall for it. That is, Edward discards hooks until he finds the right one. The fish Edward talks about got caught by his wedding ring, just like Edward himself whose hook was Sandra. But to get there, he had to overcome countless obstacles, leave his comfort zone, achieve learning and, at the end of his life, take off his shoes in a new comfort zone.

The shoes

Shoes serve to protect our feet when we walk, when we are at home, we no longer need them. In Espectro, all its inhabitants go barefoot, they do not need to continue advancing and therefore they will never need their shoes again. Despite this, Edward leaves Espectro without his shoes, that is, unprotected because, at that moment, he will face the panic zone. Likewise, at the end of life, we no longer need the shoes, we can settle down and leave them hanging.

big fish It is a fantastic contemporary story that shows us another way of seeing life, of accepting it. As Each of us is capable of doing extraordinary things if we can overcome our fears.get out of the comfort zone and chart your own path.

You might be interested…