Will Bloom Character Analysis

Thesis: In the movie, “Big fish,” Will Bloom, the son, is experiencing a major conflict of realizing he is soon going to become the crazy old man everyone will be talking about or desire information from. This is his major problem throughout the movie ever since he learns that his dad has fallen ill. In comedic plays written by Shakespeare, Shakespeare would describe men that are becoming old and losing their minds as a Pantaloon, so in the case of Will Bloom he is conflicted with becoming the Pantaloon that his father once was, a crazy old man with many lived experiences that must be told. With the big mix of proximal and distal factors, Will’s biggest conflict is the idea of him becoming the next crazy old man. His conflict with becoming

This is a big step in every man’s life and because of the distance he felt with his father, he is hoping that when he becomes a father he does not lose that kind of closeness that he once had. This relates to his conflict of becoming the Pantaloon now because of the way he sees his father as a crazy old man who will tell non-stop lies as if he were to hustle his own friends at a carnival and he fears that he himself will turn out the same way. Will is in a constant battle of trying to figure out the truth in his father’s stories, but also trying to discover why his father is like this and it is taking a toll on him. With a newborn on the way for Will and Josephine, Will is trying to find closure so he can have a better understanding of how to raise their child. This is a proximal factor for Will because it involves the birth of his own son soon and also him being back home for the death of his father. These are factors affecting him in the moment and will carry a lot of weight in his foreseeable future. His need to know will drive him to become more like his father in the end, even if it requires him to be viewed as a crazy old

Will has a hard time accepting the role, but realizes that it is the only way to live if you desire close relationships and people to remember you. Will begins to tell the story of how his father dies and the story comes full circle for Will and Edward. Will Bloom will eventually take on the role of the crazy old man with all of the stories as his son grows up and as he grows old. He was conflicted with being this person and had to experience the story for himself with his father to finally accept who he will become in the eyes of others. Being a Pantaloon in this story is not a bad thing, as we can see many people from Edward’s life show up at his funeral to remember the most interesting person they have ever met. So for Will, he becomes more accepting of this role and realizes he can affect more than just a few lives in his lifetime and when he dies like his father, he finally understands that the end is not coming too soon for him and it is still possible for him to become a “Big Fish” and stay that way. He now desires those close friendships so his son can grow up experiencing an interesting and caring