Literary Elements In Tim Burton's Big Fish

Tim Burton’s Big Fish tells the story of the wild life of Edward Bloom. Some aspects of Bloom’s life is fictionalize and exaggerated by Bloom himself which causes the relationship with his son William to become tense. His son believes he doesn’t truly know his father due to the constant fairytale like stories Edwards has been telling him over the years. It takes Edward Bloom being on his deathbed to encourage his son to return in which William has to find the truth about his father’s life and fix their uneasy relationship. Burton’s film has been praised well by film critics due to its excellent storytelling and use of literary devices, which makes the film enjoyable for the audience. Many literary elements are present in the film. Beginning with the title of the film, Big Fish holds a great deal of symbolism. The title symbolizes the life of William Bloom. Bloom is a big fish in a small pond, who’s ambition and personality are way to huge for his small town to contain. This prompts Bloom to finally leave his small town and move to the “big city, in which the size of his ambition will fit his environment. Bloom had to move to the city in order to expand his horizon. This symbolism is enjoyable because it gives the title

The relationship in the film is between Edward and William Bloom who relationship has not been so easy due to William getting tired of the stories his father constantly tells to him and others. Not until the end of the film is where William finds out that the stories his father has been telling contain some type of truth in them and that his stories were a way to keep his life immortal. This theme is enjoyable as well because it also feeds the question to the audience whether or not a person truly knows their parent. Even if the relationship is good, does a child ever truly know their parent? Big Fish forces this question into the viewer’s