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The Symbolism Of Water In The Big Fish By Tim Burton

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Water is seen a lot throughout the story of the Big Fish. Water, in the story, is a symbol that can represent purity. An example from the story, that shows the viewer the meaning of water, is when we first see Edward lying in his bed because William had come to bring Edward his extra protein. Edward asks for the water that was sitting right next to him. He says something to the effect of he needs it, water. It was in a clear pitcher. He had been coughing a little. Edward gets his glass of water passed to him from William. When Edward drinks it, he seems to be perfectly fine and healthy. To Edward, it is what keeps him alive. It purified his scratchy throat causing him to be better. In one scene Edward is laying in a full bath tub. Sandra comes …show more content…

A viewer can infer this by looking at the scene where Edward is in the bed for three years. Edward entered a growth spurt at church. He just started growing immensely. His clothing ripped and he had to go to bed. Edward had to lay in a wacky contraption that seemed to make no sense. Just like puberty it makes no sense and is different for everyone. A person could not perfectly recreate the contraption even if they tried which makes it different than anyone else’s. The machine shakes, rattles, and fumes. It cannot contain the insanity and confusion of puberty. The chemical reaction within can fume and sputter causing odd emotions to happen. During this time, Edward just speaks in his head. He wonders why this was happening to him. Tim Burton leaks his personal thoughts and opinions on puberty into this section of big fish. It could be believed that Tim thinks it is a troublesome part of life and it seems to happen so quickly. On the other hand, we can also see that the process, that was so painful, stopped right when Edward realized something about himself. What Edward realized does not matter. What matters is the fact that realizing who you are and what you want to do makes the pain of puberty go away. You suddenly feel like you fit in a section and humans always are looking for where they belong. Tim Burton has many ideas and only some can be captured through his

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