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Director
Based upon Daniel Wallace's novel of the same name, Big Fish (2003) is the thirteenth film directed by Tim Burton, and has received essentially positive reviews. Burton first entered the world of filmmaking as an animator, and it his attention to quirky visual details that has defined his directing style. Movies such as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Beetle Juice all contain dark, gothic elements that are offset with a sense of gentle humor or whimsy. Another Burton trademark is his repeated use of particular actors, especially Johhny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, the latter of whom he is involved with romantically.
Genre
Big Fish is an example of magical realism, a style of literature that represent the mid-way point between fantasy and realism. Magical-realist literature maintains plot lines that would be expected in "real-world" stories, but it also incorporates powerful symbols and imaginative events, sometimes even involving the supernatural. Often these stories are placed in relatable environments that act as a realistic framework in which extraordinary events take place. The classic example of magical realism is the short story “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This story tells of a man who is discovered outside of a village in a South American country; he has wings on his back and speaks a strange other-worldly language. The village’s reaction is somewhat unexpected, and they accept the man as more of an oddity than a supernatural being. (He is actually an angel). The realistic life of the village is juxtaposed with these descriptions of the supernatural being, creating an interesting contrast. This collision of reality and magic is the foundation of magical realism. However, these stories are not fantasy.
In Big Fish Edward Bloom's stories embellish the real with that of myth and metaphor, and the tall-tales add a sense of magic to the life of this man.
CHARACTERS
Edward Bloom
Although they are nearly synonymous, facts and truths are not necessarily the same things. You don’t
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always need to find precise facts to understand the truth. Factual stories can deliver a boatload of information that “won’t be complicated, but it won’t be interesting either.” Director Tim Burton explores this topic extensively in his film Big Fish. Edward Bloom understands that interesting stories and tales of his life convey a deeper understanding of him than simply the facts can. Through his determination, social skills and imagination, Edward excels throughout his life and is able to share his experiences in fantastical yet powerful tales.
Born and raised in the small town of Ashton Alabama, Edward Bloom had great ambitions from the start. At eighteen years of age, he realizes that his ambition, like Karl the giant, was too big for his town. He embarks on his journey, passing though the town of Spectre, until he is hired at the circus so he can meet the girl he falls in love with. After courting and marrying Sandra Templeton, he is forced to serve his country in the Korean War. With help, Edward makes it back to his wife and puts his talents to use as a travelling salesman for the Handi-Matic. Along the way, he helps Norther Winslow become a millionaire, as well as the people of Spectre. As he gets older, he shares his stories with his son Will, with extra flair, until Will refused to listen to them. Towards the end of his life, Edward progressively gets weaker although still tells his tales to anyone who would listen.
Although some details in his stories were fabricated, Edward’s personality is evident in both his younger and older life. Several of his stories portray him as having a substantial amount of determination and fearlessness. One of the first examples of this is when he found Karl and convinced him to leave the town together. Edward was especially determined to meet (and marry) Sandra, which is shown by him working tirelessly at the circus just to learn her name. He also didn’t give up when he discovered that she was engaged to Don Price. Edward did everything he could to marry and stay with the love of his life – and he succeeded despite being conscripted into the Korean War. After reuniting with his wife, he made his way back to the run-down and bankrupt town of Spectre, and he did not rest until he bought and thereby saved the town. In his later years, he would tell his stories no matter how many times other people have heard them All of this proves that although he “may not have much, [he has] more determination than any man you’re ever going to meet.”
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Edward is also described as very likeable and sociable throughout his life. From his teenage years, everybody in the towns of Ashton and Spectre wanted him to stay forever. With his charming personality, he easily made friends with nearly everyone he met. In his later years, all of the recipients of his stories except for his son were glad to listen to him. He was so well known and respected that everyone who knew him as a friend in the past came to his funeral. His imagination and general good nature earned him an important part of all of those people’s lives.
As an older man, Edward recognizes that his imagination has started to dry out. In one of his tales as a young boy, he claims to have seen how he dies in the glass eye of the witch. Instead of being frightened he thought that seeing his death would help him “because you’d know that everything else you can survive.” Sick and with little energy, Edward knows that he is dying, but he refuses to let that destroy his sense of imagination. He uses water, something sustainable and essential, as a symbol of his imagination multiple times. His many stories originated because he had “been thirsty [his] whole life.” Like a big fish, he submerges himself completely because he feels himself drying out, in his body and his creativity. He refuses to die by something as simple as a stroke when there could be a deeper meaning in an imaginative story.
Edward maintains a firm belief throughout the film: some truths are better understood through fantastical tales. This static view even sparks a change of perspective in his son. Edward’s likeable and determined personality increases the effect of his stories on others. Although he died of a stroke at the film’s conclusion, his imagination never dried out. Although it is sometimes difficult to “separate the fact from the fiction [or] the man from the myth,” Edward Bloom shows us that hard facts don’t always convey a better message than a well thought out and creative tale.
William Bloom
{William.jpg} William Bloom is a 30 year old salesman who is introduced into the movie “Big Fish” directed by Tim Burton, at his own wedding party where his dad Edward Bloom was telling a story about how when William was born, Edward was catching a big fish using his wedding ring as bait. Will gets very annoyed when his father tells the same fantasy tales over and over that he had to hear growing up a kid, but Will knows that his father over exaggerates his stories to make them untrue. Will and Edward had an argument after the wedding party which resulted in them not talking for the next 3 years. But once Edward started to have health problems, Will and his wife Josephine went back to Ashton, Alabama to visit them.
William went upstairs to go talk to his father for the first time in 3 years and Edward continues to tell his stories.
Since Will knew that his father exaggerates all of the stories that he tells, Will has been unable to feel that he can trust Edward. He feels like he really doesn’t know much about his father, and Will thinks that his dad, when he was there, raised Will with nothing but lies. Will says to his wife Josephine “When I was growing up, he was gone more than he was here, and I started thinking, maybe he has a second life somewhere else. With another family, another house, he leaves us, he goes to them. Or maybe there is no second family. Maybe he never wanted a family. But whatever it is, maybe he likes his second life better, and the reason he tells all those stories, is because he can’t stand this boring place.”
While Edward is staying in bed all day, Will goes to talk to him about the lies he has been telling. Will says “Do you know much about ice bergs dad?” Edward replies “Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn’t count on an elephant being frozen inside.” Another story that Will knew was a lie. Will said “The thing about icebergs is you only see 10 percent. The other 90 percent is below the water where you can’t see it. That’s what it is with you dad. I am only seeing the little bit that sticks above the water”. Will is implying to his father that he knows nothing about him.
While Edward Bloom is slowly dying, Will is eager to find out who his father really is. Will was having a conversation with Sandra and she said “It was during the war. Your father went missing, They thought he was dead”. Will replies shockingly with “That really happened?” “Not everything your father says is a complete fabrication.” Will was starting to wonder if maybe he had been thinking that everything his father was saying was a lie, but some of the stories he told were true.
Edward Bloom had a stroke and was in the hospital about to pass away and Will was staying the night in the hospital. This being the last conversation that they would have together, Edward tells Will to tell the story of how he is going to die. Will tells him this exaggerated story about how he breaks his father out of the hospital and takes him to the river where the big fish is. When they get to the river Will carries his father like a baby all the down to the river. The whole town of Ashton and Spectre are there to applaud and say their goodbye’s before Edward moves on. Will carries him into the water until he is about thigh deep in the water and slowly puts his father into the water. Once he hits the water he turns into the big fish. After Wil tells the story, his father had passed away in his hospital bed. It was a special moment for Will that he got to use his imagination and make up a story for his father before he passed away.
Sandra Templeton Bloom
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Sandra Templeton is a gentle, soft-hearted girl, who always sees the good in people. When Edward Bloom first sees her at a circus during his travels, her beauty causes time to “freeze”, and he instantly falls in love. Unfortunately, Sandra is whisked away by the crowd before they get a chance to speak, returning to Auburn University where she attends school. She appears to be more reasonable than Edward, as instead of waiting for a man she only glimpsed for moments, she moves on and is soon engaged to Don Price. Bloom, however, is convinced that she’s “the one”, working in the circus in an effort to learn more about her. When Bloom finally finds and confronts her concerning his love, she initially turns him down, but as he continues to pursue her, Sandra begins to realise the brutish behaviour of Price. In no time at all, Sandra falls for Bloom, but when this becomes known to Don he rages, furious that Bloom might beat him yet again. The two are about to come to blows, until Sandra intervenes, begging Bloom not to harm Price. This speaks volumes of her character, as even though she no longer truly loves him, she still chooses to see the best in Price, too sweet natured to wish harm upon him.
Sandra Bloom is a middle aged women married to Edward Bloom, who is struggling to remain positive as her husband slowly fades. She is still completely in love with Bloom, never growing tired of his stories. Sandra contacts William, their son, and convinces him to come and visit. She hopes that William will grow to understand the deeper meanings behind her husband’s stories, whether it’s leaving the two alone or simply encouraging her son to open up to his father. She even gets William to help her go through Edward’s things, much of it working as evidence to help prove that not everything his father said was a lie. Sandra Bloom’s only desire is to simply have a family that is whole, without argument and anger, and for everyone to see Edward the way she does. She just wants Edward Bloom to be remembered as fondly as she will remember him.
Karl the Giant
{Karl the Giant2.jpg} When many people see a giant, they automatically think about a monster. This usually is true, except in the case of Karl the Giant where the director Tim Burton portrays him as a giant who just gets hungry and wants to eat. One day Karl leaves the town of Ashton to go join the circus and work for Amos Calloway who some may consider takes advantage of him. Karl the Giant isn’t a monster or a freak but a very large man with a big appetite.
A relation to Karl growing out of control could be when Edward recalls to William how he was bedridden when his body started to outgrow him and draws parallel to a goldfish growing to fit its habitat. Edward compared it to if a small fish lives in a small bowl it will never grow but if it is put in a bigger tank it will grow to fit the size of the tank. I believe that maybe Karl had the same problem that Edward had with his bones growing out of control.
One day in the town of Ashton, Alabama all of their citizens are mad because what they believe to be a monster is eating and destroying everything such as flocks of sheep, corn fields and even breaking a barn wall. One day Edward Bloom approaches Karl’s home which happens to be in a cave fearfully to ask him to leave Ashton. As Edward approaches the cave Karl powerfully tells him to “Go away”, as he didn’t want to be bothered. When Karl said “Go away” his voice was powerful enough to push Edward over. When Karl came out of his cave, Edward was very scared and offered Karl his hand to eat as he said he didn’t want to go back to Ashton. Edward tells Karl that Ashton is too small for the both of them and that they need to go to a bigger city. Karl and Edward decide to leave Ashton together come across a circus on their journey where the both of them will work.
On Edward’s and Karl’s journey to a large city the come across a circus where Karl impresses the ring leader with his size enough to get a contract and be part of the circus. When the ring leader known as Amos Calloway offers Karl the contract he asked two things, “Have you ever heard of the term involuntary servitude?” or "Unconscionable contract?” Karl, not knowing what the terms meant said “No” and signed the contract. Involuntary servitude and unconscionable contract basically mean that Karl will be a servant for Amos. When working for Amos in the circus, Karl amazes Amos’ audience and helps Amos make a bigger profit.
Karl the giant may be one of the biggest giants to be nice in film history as seen in Big Fish Karl never wanted to harm anyone. Karl always gave a helping hand and never wanted anything for ourselves. Throughout Karl’s journey with Edward from Ashton to the circus, he found someone who was there with him in Edward, and found a place that can handle his size at the circus.
Amos Calloway
{Amos and Soggeybottom.jpg} When you think of a “carny” what comes to mind? Is it that they’re cheerful and love what they do? Or is it that they are a mean selfish group of people who only want your hard earned money? The common conception is that they are a disgusting group of people who are mean and deceive you into believing that you can win their rigged games. While this is not true for all, it is true for the Famous Amos Calloway, the head honcho at a traveling circus he does all the hiring and coordination at the circus, with his partner Mr. Soggybottom they make sure the acts and the show run smoothly. Greedy, sneaky, and deceptive are three words that can describe these two characters, and while Amos helps one of the key characters in the film find his dream girl, he makes this character work day and night with no pay just promise of information every month in return for his services.
Amos is shown to have a very exciting circus, lined up with an assortment of different “freaks” however when his giant “Colossus” or “El Penumbra” meaning the shadow, get shown up by Karl the Giant he is immediately drawn to Karl. This is the first scene in the movie where you see Amos showing signs of being a “crook.” He says, “tell me Karl have you ever heard the term involuntary servitude?” he also asks if he knows what an unconscionable contract is. Karl not knowing either of the two is rushed into selling himself to the circus, which turns out to be good for Karl because he finally has a place to go but he also is getting little to no pay and is a slave to the circus. Also while he has already trapped Karl into working for him, he then gives Edward a job, but without pay instead Edward has to work day and night for the promise of receiving a hint on who the girl of his dreams are every month. Edward, infatuated by love takes the deal and works at the circus for three years without pay, and even though Amos kept his promise of the hints every month they were very bland and blunt hints that would give Edward little to no hint on who she is and how he could find her. Hints like “her favourite flowers are daffodils” or “she likes music” while every singles month this would just infatuated Edward more with the girl he loved. Perhaps Amos planned this out so that he could extend his time using Edward as a slave, doing work that nobody else wanted to do, knowing that as long as he kept Edward infatuated with the girl he could keep him there forever. Showing just how manipulative and deceptive Amos is.
While he took up a good portion of Edwards’s life, Amos doesn’t truly see how big Edwards ambition truly is, some may even say he has a “giant ambition.” It is not until Edward finally has enough of this gimmick that Amos is putting on and goes to his trailer where he finds Amos’ trailer shaking and he hears growling on the inside. He opens the door to find Amos, but it is not the normal Amos, he has been turned into a beast by the night, a werewolf. After a fight between the werewolf and Edward, where Edward is shot by the emotional Soggybottom and then treats the werewolf like a trained dog and throws a stick until Amos returns to his normal state and finally realizes just how much Edward truly loves and wants to marry this woman, he finally tells Edward the love of his life’s name and is released to go and find her.
Throughout the whole time you see Amos in the film he is shown to only be in it for himself and his business, tricking Karl into working for him for little to no money and giving Edward glimpses of hope that he will find his dream girl. This makes everyone believe that Amos is a deceptive character, which is true but that is not the only key characteristic he possesses, he shows when he transforms back from the werewolf that he is not only a kind man but also very misunderstood. Amos shows how big his heart truly is and just like the werewolf he may seem mean and terrible, but in reality he is a man who is trapped by hatred and selfishness and perceived as one as well because of his pasted.
Ping & Jing
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Would you trek halfway across the world on a treacherous, life-threatening journey for fame and fortune? When the opportunity was presented to Ping and Jing through Edward Bloom, there was no hint of hesitation. Ping and Jing are conjoined twins who entertain Korean troops with music. When the twins meet Edward, he offers to introduce them into the world of American show business in return of helping him get back home. There are countless motives regarding the decisions a person makes; some base their decision on the benefit the outcome will provide upon themselves, while others choose to help one another in reaching their personal ambitions.
Compulsory military service was enforced upon Edward to fight the war in Korea-he had just won over Sandra’s heart and did not want to be away from her for so long. Edward tackled the most hazardous of assignments, educated himself on the Korean language, and evidently had a meticulous, premeditated plan to escape from Korea back to Miami. His plan involved a whaling ship to Russia, a barge to Cuba, and a small, dirty canoe to Miami where he would at last be reunited with the love of his life.
When Edward parachuted into the Korean army camps to steal some important documents, he crossed paths with Ping and Jing. They nearly exposed him to the Korean authorities but instantly changed their mind when he shared his perpetual love for his wife Sandra. Ping and Jing listened intently as they are longing for true love, repeatedly singing about “twice they love [they had] to give.” When Edward pitches his plan to escape back to America to reunite with his love, Ping and Jing want nothing more but to help him-especially when he offers to introduce them to the biggest name in American show business. This can imply that Ping and Jing are an extensive aspect in developing the love between Edward and Sandra as without them, Edward would have been captured by the Korean rule and allegedly never have been reconciled with Sandra.
At a later time, Ping and Jing appear in the movie again when the town of Spectre is degrading. Edward applies the entirety of his energy to salvage it by investing. He consults several of the people he has helped to their journey of fame and success in hopes they will comply in investing their money in him. One of the people he approaches is Ping and Jing and they are not ones to refuse. They once more support Edward in his determination to restore the town occupied by people he cares about.
Ping and Jing are perceived in Edward’s stories as conjoined twins while in reality, they are not actually connected. In every story, there is genuine truth but there is also at least one aspect that is supplementary of Edward’s imagination. If every story was told exactly and as blandly as it happened, people would eventually bore and there would be no excitement in telling these stories. By adding even the slightest twist to a story, it certainly increases the interest people may take in it.
Norther Winslow
Edward Bloom embodies the perfect example of determination and ambition, always striving for what he really {Norther Winslow.jpg} wants and will stop at nothing to achieve what he desires. Norther Winslow, the most famous poet to come out of Ashton, is the opposite. Winslow is a character foil for Ed Bloom, being complacent and striving for nothing. The first time we see Norther Winslow, he has settled down in the town of Spectre. Winslow has been living in the town for longer than twelve years, arriving there when he was a young man and fell in love with the small town. Spectre is a town where after living your life, you come to settle down, but Winslow settled too soon, never living his life and becoming complacent with the utopia where he finds himself.
Winslow seems to have had a great career lined up for himself, being the “greatest poet to come out of Ashton,” however, arriving in Spectre he decides it would be better to stop and just start living there. Once Edward Bloom shows up in the town, he finds himself chatting with Winslow beside a pond, where Winslow shows Bloom a poem he has been working on for twelve years. Bloom reads the poem (The grass so green. Skies so blue. Spectre is really great!) and comments on the fact that it is only three lines long, after more than a decade of work. Winslow snaps back at Bloom, saying, “This is why you should never show a work in progress.” Winslow first demonstrates the theme of complacency by showing his work to Bloom, and while Bloom is still at Spectre, he does not change. However, when Bloom states that he must leave Spectre and that it is not his time to settle down and live in one place, this strikes Winslow. Winslow follows suit, leaving Spectre, and goes off the radar for most of the movie.
Winslow returns when Edward Bloom goes to a bank in Texas, catching up with Bloom in the line before the desk. When Bloom asks Winslow what he is doing there, Winslow quietly says he is robbing the bank, and makes Bloom help him by going to the vault and taking the money there. To Bloom’s surprise, he opens the vault door and there is a change bag sitting on a stool. He grabs it and Winslow and Bloom make an escape and leave town. After escaping, Winslow asks to see what Bloom got from the vault, opening the change bag and pulling out a small amount of bills. Bloom shares some advice with Winslow, and Winslow decides to move to New York and work on Wall Street, for the first time showing ambition and drive. He moves to New York, and later in the movie it is revealed that WInslow has become a very rich man. Bloom awakened Winslow’s ambition and determination, and Winslow’s drive makes him realize his goals of becoming very rich and having a great sum of money, which he uses to help Bloom buy Spectre.
Jenny Beaman-Hill
Dr. Bennett
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What is a professional’s first response to his or her job? Doing their job; no questions asked (unless payment is not paid in full). What does a professional do when their job is done? Leave and take their payment, and take their payment for their contract. Sometimes, this is not always the case, as Dr. Bennett in Big Fish acts as not just a family doctor, as he does a great deal more than what is required to do by a professional in almost any field. In Big Fish, he helps Sandra Bloom birth William Bloom, visits Edward Bloom when he is in a near-death state, and tells the truth of Will’s birth to Will on Edward’s death bed, giving a preference to Edward’s story than the cold, hard truth. Rather than simply “just doing his job,” as some may say, Dr. Bennett acts more as a friend to the Bloom family, acting in each important medical event in their lives.
Throughout Big Fish, Dr. Bennett acts an outgoing doctor that is useful at giving advice for not just medical necessities, but also personal advice on differing mentalities. In Big Fish, Dr. Bennett is a black doctor that acts as a family doctor to the Blooms. While giving medical advice to the family, he also knows about personal items of the family, beginning with Josephine’s pregnancy, to which he knows that she has been pregnant for “Seven months,” and suggests, “It’s a boy”. As a friend, Dr. Bennett also explains that he is “[annoyed]… when people talk to those who can’t hear them,” while Will is at his father’s side when Edward is unconscious, so he is “-glad to see that [Will was] not trying to have a heartfelt talk [with his currently unconscious father]”. As well as being a friend, he was also a fact-regurgitating doctor that told the truth of “-the real story of how [Will] [was] born”, as it was a necessity to tell how the events actually happened. This could also be seen as a friendly gesture, as he did not just say, “That’s not my job to tell you how you were born,” or simply did not suggest anything about that topic and instead did more than the job required him to do. Rather than simply being a doctor in the Bloom’s lives, he was a voice for reason, truth, and empathy.
As a minor character in Big Fish, Doctor Bennett only contributes minor attributes to the plot line. Aside from the obvious fact that Will will have a son at some point in the plot, he also gives the notion of his preference, as an individual, to elaborate stories over facts. After telling his story on how Will was born, he thinks that the truth without a fanciful story was “Not very exciting-,” and that “If [he] had to choose between the true version and an elaborate one of a fish and a wedding ring, [he] might choose the fancy version-”. This gave the impression to Will (at least) of how he (and maybe people in general) prefer to listen to stories that have imbedded truths rather than stories that are purely factual (and not always particularly interesting). As well as this statement being intentionally or unintentionally acting as a possible generalization about humans, his statement also acted as a catalyst for Will to change his mind about telling his father’s death as a story instead of a factual account of how it had happened. Dr. Bennett’s choice is just his own, though, as after suggesting he would prefer to tell a fantastical story to a factual story, when he says, “-But that’s just me”. This part of his statement mainly gives him a human characteristic, rather than stating it as a fact that Will had to accept; this also acts a doctor’s suggestion, as he recommends this prescription of story-telling to his patient’s provider for the patient and for the patient provider himself. As a minor character, Doctor Bennett’s minor role was set as a bit of motivation for Will to decide to tell the fantastical story of his father’s death and be a minor catalyst to change Will’s personality to one more like his father, Edward, and his personality.
Doctor Bennett acts as any highly adored doctor may, by helping his patients out instead of simply acting out the status quo of what doctors need to do. His empathetic characteristics are recognized when he does more than just what needs to do at his job, when he tells Will the truth of how he was born, and it is possible to see the need for Dr. Bennet in the plotline for the recommendation that he gives to Will. Through and through, Dr. Bennett acts out his job not just as a doctor, but also as a good friend.
FANTASY EPISODES & SYMBOLS
Catching the Big Fish (The Story)
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One of Edward Bloom’s most famous tales is that of the Big Fish. A shared quality of many fishermen, to which Edward is no exception, is the ability to embellish on a good catch. A good sized fish that inspirited minor difficulty in capturing can suddenly turn into a fifteen pound fish that took three men to reel in!
The Big Fish story is certainly not excluded from this fabricated ideal. This Big Fish--or The Beast as they call it, is deemed “uncatchable” not because it’s faster or stronger but rather that it just has something extra in it, something special. As Edward repeatedly states, some believe that it’s the spirit of the thief Henry Walls, that drowned in the Ashton River some years before. Others believe it’s a dinosaur, left over from the Cretaceous age. Nonetheless, Edward had set his sight on catching The Beast ever since he was a child, and the day his son William was born, he was finally able to. He tried everything for bate, worms, peanut butter, you name it but nothing seemed to grab the attention of the Big Fish. Edward came to realize that this fish, was indeed not like the others and in fact very special. One day, Edward came to an ingenious solution that if the fish was in fact the spirit of a thief, he would “have to use bait a thief would truly desire.” Contemplating the criminal mind, he concluded that the bait must be something of true worth and importance. Acknowledging the expensive, gold wedding ring on his finger, a symbol of fidelity and love for his wife, he realized what his next move was. Edward tied the ring to a durable strand of string then cast his line out, into the open water. Before long and as anticipated, The Beast made his grand appearance and seized the ring, tearing the string apart from the fishing pole. Edward, in a state of desperation and urgency, followed the fish into the depths of the river and engaged in a brief struggle with The Beast, in the hopes of getting his ring back. He finally achieved his dream of catching the fish, but now realized what the more important achievement was. When Edward and The Beast finished their struggle with each other, Edward appeared victorious as The Beast willingly gave the ring back. Edward could have caught and killed The Beast, but didn’t want to deprive his son William of the chance to do the same.
It’s interesting that at the end of the movie, William tells a story of the Big Fish himself. This is intriguing because throughout the movie, Will has virtually no interest in it or any other stories told by his father. William, who prefers fact over fiction, states that the story is; “like a joke, he’s heard so many times, that he’s forgotten why it’s funny.” Then, suddenly he hears it again, in a new situation and it appears new to him, and he remembers why he loved it in the first place. William believes this is his father’s final joke. To tell the same story so many times that he eventually becomes the story and It lives on after him. And in that way, he becomes immortal. Having the facts is one thing, but having a story that evokes feelings of love, adventure and learning, help us appreciate things in a deeper meaning and carry them with us forever.
The Big Fish (As a Symbol)
In Big Fish, the title happens to be an important symbol to the movie and to the character Edward Bloom whom tells {111.jpg} the story about the actual fish. The fish in his unrealistic hugeness has a great meaning behind it; he is a symbol to the movie. Edward Bloom says some people think it’s the spirit of a thief, Henry Walls, who drowned in the Ashton River but others think it’s a dinosaur that’s left over from the Cretaceous Period. They call it The Beast because of its enormousness and that it’s very uncatchable. Edward Blooms story of the fish is that he had been the first to catch it; he thought that if it actually is the spirit of a thief then he will want something valuable, gold. So using his gold ring he casts a line and The Beast bites it. Edward had caught the fish.
At the end of Edward’s long life, his son Will tells a story about how he dies. He says that he goes out into the river, lowers his dad down in the water and Edward literally turns into The Beast. That shows that The Beast is actually Edward in his afterlife and he was always a big fish at heart. All throughout the movie, Edward kept saying how he was “drying out” and how he has been thirsty his whole life. This helps as foreshadow to when he actually becomes the big fish. In the bathtub scene you could see him underneath the water for a very long time. He basically was a fish at that point and when he was swimming in the pool with his flippers and goggles he was swimming like a fish. At the end, Will says that his father told his stories so many times that he became the stories, he became the fish. The stories live on after him which makes him the immortal Big Fish.
During Edwards telling of the story, he states that the fish, in fact was not a male, but a female. That makes it connect to his wife and at the end when Will is telling his father how he dies, Sandra is there in the water and he tells her that she is his lady in the river, guiding him through life. When Edward is telling the story at Will’s wedding he ends off with saying, “Sometimes, the only way to catch an uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring.” Edward described the fish as uncatchable, just like his description of how to catch women. With The Beasts attraction to the ring when Edward caught him, the fish felt a special connection to the ring and then when he gave the ring back it shows that he knew how special the ring was to Edward. He caught the uncatchable fish with a wedding ring showing that Sandra has a very special connection to the fish.
The day Edward caught the fish was the day that Will was born. That means that Will, as well, has a special connection to the big fish. Edwards goal in his hero's journey was to make Will love him as much as he does. Edward loves his son very much and that is shown at their house when Will is walking up the stairs to go see his dying father he sees many familiar pictures because they are all of him. His parents care so much about him and he doesn’t even realize it. Just like when Edward wanted to catch The Beast it became his life goal to capture back the heart of his son and show him that his stories brought joy to everyone and that the most imaginative stories are the most memorable.
The Beast symbolizes more than just people, but having a need to catch back something that is important to you. It was very difficult to catch the fish just like it was difficult for him to catch his son back. As well it was tough for Edward to capture the heart of his one true love but he did so with a wedding ring. Edward became the fish, he became his tall tales and because his stories would live on and on, so would he.
Edward's Journey from Ashton
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In Tim Burton’s Big Fish, there were many fantasy episodes, including Edward’s journey from Ashton, which were embellished and therefore not based solely on reality, but they did represent a deep and symbolic message. Edward’s journey had a far deeper meaning than the fantastic, imaginative story presented in the film if analyzed thoughtfully. This story could relay the life lesson that we must brave unfamiliar ventures in order to achieve our true desires.
As Edward Bloom and Karl the Giant were leaving Ashton, they came across two different roads, which both lead out of the town: “a new one which was paved and an older one that wasn’t.” The older road was rarely used and had “developed the reputation of being haunted.” There were Do Not Enter signs at the turn off to the older road but Edward chose to take it alone anyways, leaving Karl the Giant to take the paved road. As an act of reassurance to Karl that he was not being ditched, Edward left his backpack with Karl and commenced his journey on the haunted path, which passed through a gloomy and horrific forest. Edward showed no signs of fear as he travelled through the dark and foggy forest, passing by dead trees with moss hanging from them and tree roots jutting out of the rock and dirt walls on either side of the path.
On this path, Edward encountered a few challenges: a bird, wasps and spiders. A black bird, likely a raven, stole his hat and flew up to a tree branch well above him. In an attempt to retrieve his hat, he threw a rock at the bird but missed and hit the colossal wasp nest behind the bird. As a result, a swarm of wasps came after him, forcing him to flee. Then, he found himself standing before a path completely covered in cobwebs with a sign reading “Warning Jumping Spiders”. This did not deter him however and he continued on, thrashing through the cobwebs as numerous large, black spiders jumped onto him. Remaining calm, Edward brushed off the spiders and carried on until he perceived light shining through the trees and came across the beautiful and peaceful town of Spectre.
This journey embodies much of what Robert Frost conveyed in his poem “The Road Not Taken”. As stated in the final stanza, the speaker chose to take a path which many others did not, just as Edward had:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
It is implied that the speaker learnt something valuable from taking the road less traveled by and it is not far-fetched to assume that Edward did as well.
This journey could represent one of independence and fearlessness. It was time for Edward to spread his wings and take his own route, which is depicted through the two different paths and him choosing to take it alone. The concept of a haunted path could symbolize how terrifying it is for an individual to do something unique and different rather than sticking with what they know. Throughout the scene, Edward did not lose himself to fear, indicating that one must not allow fear to rule their lives and restrict their choices, but must show signs of courage and bravery as they face unfamiliar situations.
The scene could also portray the necessity of trust. Edward had to trust that Karl would still be there for him at the end of his journey, even though they did not take the same paths. This could show that eventually a person will come across a time in their life where they must leave their support system, their family and friends; in order to do what they feel is necessary. Karl and Edward met back up after the trip, symbolizing that although we may find ourselves physically separated from our family and friends, they still have our backs and will remain supportive. In that circumstance, we must trust that our support systems will still be there, in a figurative sense, and that even though we may physically be alone, we are not truly alone.
All the challenges Edward encountered on the haunted path could represent obstacles that a person will inevitably face on their personal quests. Edward could not avoid the bird, nor could he avoid the jumping spiders. They were all challenges that he had to face, no matter the result, if he were to reach his final destination. In a general and symbolic sense, the final destination could be happiness and/or success and the creatures he encountered could be the curveballs that life throws at an individual. In order to achieve our goals, we must endure various hardships because everything worth having in life does not come without its challenges. In the scene, Edward fought through it: he lost his hat and got stung by wasps but he carried on, brushed off the spiders and eventually made it to the end of the path. This could mean that when life gets rough, it might hurt and we may lose things along the way, but we must continue to push through it, brushing off the effects of the obstacles we faced because, eventually, we will reach our destinations.
In Frost’s poem, it was predicted that the speaker would be repeating his story years later. Similarly, Edward repeated his embellished story years later to those who would listen, likely with the intent of teaching them the important and significant lesson he had learned. Both Frost’s poem and this scene explain the importance of facing the unfamiliar and taking an uncommon route. They teach that we can’t stick with what everyone else does if we wish to achieve our specific goals. We have to be independent and fearless. We have to do something different, despite the struggles we may face along the way, trusting that people are there for us and that eventually, things will work out. It may be a bumpy road, as well as a terrifying one, but in the end, we’ll be happy we chose to take it.
The Courting of Sandra Templeton
One of the most outrageous and fantastical elements of the movie Big Fish is the story angle about how Edward {Young Edward Bloom.jpg} Bloom met and courted his wife, Sandra. We are introduced to the story element when an elderly Edward is telling his version of the event to his daughter-in-law. In Edward’s literal version of the story, he arrives at a circus show and gets his first glimpse of Sandra in the crowd. Bloom, who had brought his friend Karl the Giant to join the circus, opens the scene by saying, “It was on that night Karl met his destiny. And I met mine. Almost.” He then proceeds to tell us how, “…when you meet the love of your life, time stops.” We view an interesting scene where all of the people in the circus arena literally freeze in time, while Edward moves through the frozen atmosphere towards Sandra. When we see the way that Sandra and Edward look at each other in that moment, it is apparent that they are both characters who feel intense emotion for each other. Burton uses this scene to emphasize how from the moment he saw her on he became completely infatuated with Sandra. We later hear that the two actually meet at University, but by using the circus as his stories setting where they met we can sense how exhilarating and exciting the first encounter was in their own eyes. Although we know time didn’t actually stop in that moment, Edward describes the meeting in that way to show how important it was, and how the way Sandra made him feel caused everything around them to cease to exist when he first laid eyes on her. Bloom then describes time as “moving extra fast to catch up,” and proceeds to lose Sandra in the bustling crowd.
Determined to find her again, Edward takes on a job at the circus where in exchange for free labor, his boss, Amos Calloway, gives him one detail about Sandra per month. These small details include things such as her favourite colour and what she does in her free time. In reality we know that Bloom didn’t simply work for free in exchange for small pieces of information, but we can gather from the story that in Bloom’s mind he had to work extremely hard in order to get closer to Sandra. His exaggeration shows the true sense of commitment and determination that Bloom possesses about Sandra. In the story he works for three years before he finally knows enough to actually meet her. His patience shows just how important getting to know Sandra was to him, and how he never gave up on his feelings. Hard work always wins out in the end, and Bloom proves that you need to work for the things that you want.
When Bloom has his first real encounter with Sandra, he wastes no time in telling her how he feels. He launches into his story of the past three years, including how he had been “shot and stabbed and trampled a few times-[he] broke [his] ribs twice, but it’s all been worth it.” By telling Sandra this dramatic version of events, he is trying to convey just how much he had to go through, physically and mentally, in order to see her, and how important she is to him. However, he also mentions how “fate has a cruel way of circling around on you.” We see the truth behind his statement when find out that Sandra is engaged to Bloom’s old high school rival, Don Price. True to his determined spirit, Bloom insists to Sandra that he is “destined to marry [her],” and that “only a fool will continue. The truth is, I’ve always been a fool.” We see again how committed Bloom is to Sandra and that despite the situation he will persist. True to his word, Bloom “[has] more determination that any man you’re ever going to meet.”
During what we can assume to be a few weeks after their first meeting, Edward never ceases in his efforts to break through to Sandra. In the story, Edward writes love notes for Sandra on a projector slide in class, creates messages in the clouds professing his love, and even fills a field full of daffodils, Sandra’s favourite flowers, from “four different states.” These elaborate displays of affection may or may not have actually happened, but from the way Edward describes these events we can sense how large his affection was for her. In his mind, the things he did for Sandra, whether big or small, took large amounts of effort and required the full investment of his heart. He both physically and emotionally went to great lengths in order to win her over, paying close attention to detail to try and prove how serious his intents were.
The final act of Edward’s efforts are shown in the field of daffodils when Don Price shows up, irate that Bloom has been trying to win over Sandra. Enraged, he begins to brutally beat up Edward in front of Sandra. She is obviously upset by the violence, and so in an attempt to be the bigger person Bloom sets aside his pride and sacrifices himself, not putting up any defense to Price. In what seems to be an epiphany, Sandra finally realizes the true extent of Edward’s love and puts an end to the fighting by returning her engagement ring to Price. She turns to Don, saying “He’s almost a stranger and I prefer him to you,” referring to how Edward has finally proven to her that he is worthy of her time and commitment. From that moment on, Bloom and Sandra are never separated again.
Although we are not completely certain about what angles of Edward’s fantastical story are real and what are exaggerated, the underlying focus of the story is how much he truly loves Sandra. Through his imaginative story-telling, we see just how important that time was in his life, and the physical, mental and emotional ordeals he had to go through in order to get what he wanted. He shows that patience and effort are the true keys to winning someone over, and that kindness and sacrifice are true forms of love. Instead of simply telling how much he loved her, Edward used his gift of story-telling to convey the true depth of how he really feels about his wife. He proves to us that true love knows no boundaries and wins out in the end.
The Werewolf
The Alabama Swamp Witch
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During Will’s plane ride to Alabama he notices a young boy making shadow figures to pass the time, forcing him to recall his father’s tale of the Swamp Witch. This story describes Edward Bloom (Ed) himself as a young boy still living in Ashton. The story of the Swamp Witch begins with Ed, along with other children, among them the Price brothers. The children are out in the Ashton swamp, looking for the infamous Swamp witch, upon reaching the fence marking the perimeter of her front lawn, all of the children leave in fear except for the Price brothers and Ed. It is at this time that Don, the eldest of the Price brothers exclaims that Ed would be too scared to break into her house and steal her glass eye. The witch’s glass eye was special however, said to contain the ability to show one their own death. As Ed approaches the door to the witch’s house the door open dramatically to the Witch standing there, face to face with Ed. Showing no fear what-so-ever, Ed simply explains to the witch that the children wanted to see her eye; for an unknown reason she agrees, as the brothers walk the steps to her front doorway she shows them the eye, along with the power it holds. The Price brothers then run, for their own lives as they must have thought. Ed however, stays; exchanging a few short words with the witch, he then decides that he would like to see how he dies. The witch, appearing surprised then turns and does exactly what he asked; Ed surprisingly does not get scared, instead realizing that in every other scenario with physical harm he encounters will not die. Where we as viewers got to see the Price brother’s deaths, we do not see Ed’s; mostly so as not to give away the end of the movie.
The witch then re-appears twice throughout the movie; the first being when Ed is leaving Ashton with Carl the Giant, only stopping him momentarily to tell him one thing, “the biggest fish gets that way by never being caught. The second time the witch is evident in the film is when Will, Ed’s son is telling the story of Edward’s death; appearing only for a short time, she simply waves and acknowledges Ed’s passing. While not being a witch; Jenny Hill had waited for Edward since he had left the town of spectre. Jenny then explains to Will her story of Ed, how he had bought the entire town of Spectre, and fully repaired her house. It then becomes clear to the viewer that Ed and Jenny have a real connection. Ed, being a married man, does not take the oppourtunity to create an affair with jenny, leaving her alone in her house; which quite coinsidentally is in the swamp outside of spectre and ashton.
It is in these ways that the Alabama Swamp Witch, or Jenny Hill could be considered as a symbol of life and vitality for Edward Bloom. In events such as in the menacing forest, where Edward is being trapped and held by the branches of many trees. As Ed realizes that those trees are not what he saw in the eye, it all stops and he is left uninjured; so long as Ed realizes he can make it through somehting, he will come out on top.
The Town of Spectre
The Lady in the River
{Lady of the Lake.jpg} The Lady of the River is an important symbol to the movie as she helps show temptation and tough decisions Edward Bloom has to make in his life and that they are coming up. She has as the lady in the river two, and or three depending on how you see it and her maybe more, main appearances in the movie.
The very first one only half an hour into the film, Edward Bloom has just had his shoes stolen by an eight year old jenny and is washing off his feet when he sees her standing back towards him. He stares on in silence until he sees a sea serpent and goes in to catch it. The moment he catches it she disappears and the snake is nothing but a stick. After this incident Edward decides to go on and leave spectre with no shoes on his feet. The Second we see her Edward is caught in a massive rain storm and he “gets surrounded by water” swimming through it she touches his window with one hand and Edward raises his to match hers. She then swims off and the water drains. Edward wakes up with his car in a tree and him on the ground. He goes walking on to find a dying town of spectre and all its inhabitants. Restoring life to the town he meets Jenny again who has a crush on him and is now older, in her twenties, who after he fixes her house up try’s to kiss him. This is the temptation and choice Edward has to make, in which he resists in telling her no. The third time and final time is at the end of the film. Edward in his sons William’s telling of his father’s passing Edward calls his wife, will’s mother, “my girl of the river,” this can show how Edward sees his wife as the lady in the river and how she has always been with him. Now what do these all mean? Well first off this shows that Edward sees the lady as his lovely wife and that if he made different decisions his whole life would have been different. If he had stayed in spectre he would have never have met his wife, Sandra. If he had kissed Jenny he would then cheat on his wife and all of it would collapse before him. The fact that the lady of the river appears both times where his life could change if he made a wrong move is just showing that his decisions though not easy are always tempting. To stay in spectre and not explore the world, and to cheat on his wife with jenny would have led to a much different life, in this way the lady of the river symbolizes his temptation and life changing choices.
The Korean War
We are going to be looking at one of the many fantasy episodes told by Edward Bloom. This episode takes place in {Korea.gif} Korea during the Korean War and seems to be intended as a comic relief type of scene, kind of ironic seeing as the scene is a war. We will take a look at the characters involved, some quotes from the scene, and we’ll look at why it is significant and how it relates to the theme. After that we will take a look at Edward’s version and try to separate the truths from the fabrications.
The scene starts with Bloom in the hospital after his “fight” with Don Price, who Sandra left for Bloom. While in the hospital Edward receives a letter from the government which happens to be a draft notice for the Korean War. The next scene shows military planes over Korea being shot at, and then we see Bloom sitting in one of the planes while he describes why he was there. Once it was Bloom’s turn to jump he held up his finger to the man telling him to jump and checked his watch. He then dropped exactly on the hour. After his parachute is pulled we move down to the ground where a group of Korean soldiers are sitting at what looks like a theater. There is a man on the stage with a puppet doing a ventriloquist act, which evidently is not going well as no one is laughing. Soon he is pulled of stage for not being funny and is replaced by a woman in a red dress. When she starts singing, which is in English for some reason, we see that she has a Siamese twin who then starts singing with her. While this is going on Bloom has landed and taken out a few guards. He then enters a tent with two Korean officers inside, who see him and start an Indiana Jones type showing off their martial arts moves. Once they finish doing that Edward holds up his finger again and takes a pair of night vision goggles out of his pocket and puts them on. He then reaches for the lamp and turns it off. We then hear some pretty poor punching sound effects and when he turns the light back on the men are on the ground. After picking up the plans that he was after we cut back to Ping and Jing as they finish their performance, which they get an enormous applause from the soldiers until the curtains close and Bloom’s parachute comes into view causing all of them to draw their weapons. The girls find Bloom behind a rack of clothes and one of them calls for a guard, but then the other sends him away. Edward then goes to describe when he was there to them and pulls out a picture to tell them about Sandra saying “this love is my salvation.” He gets them to agree to help him escape by offering them fame in the U.S. He then says that they came up with a plan involving a whaling ship to Russia, a barge to Cuba, and a small dirty canoe to Miami. While he was doing that we see that Sandra back home was visited by a man to give her a letter saying Edward was dead since he didn’t return from his mission. After four months Edward comes back home while Sandra was doing laundry and we get a nice happy end to the episode.
Now in that scene there were definitely some less-than-true things shown. For one: Ping and Jing, although later we do see that they were real, they were not physically connected like Edward said, but were just twins. Also the army having a theater performance going on during a war probably would not have happened. What kind of significance does this scene have? Other than being a funny scene designed for a bit of comic relief after the Don Price scene it seems like the scene is meant to let Edward show the audience what he was willing to do for Sandra; taking the most dangerous missions so he could get back to her sooner.
The Story of Edward's Death
THEMES
The Power of Imagination
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Sitting in class, slowly your eyelids grow heavy and body becomes limp as we listen to the ramblings of Mr. Cox. Doodles slowly become real as the curves and shapes fill the page creating their own world in black white and blue. Mr. Cox mentions words of Hamlet and Shakespeare, and within minutes you find yourself lost in a Renaissance time dressed in large gowns and steel capes, chasing bandits and sewing hangings. Quite literally, we are taken to another world. But why do we do this? What creates this perception of imagination and exaggeration in our minds?
Much like Edward in Tim Burton’s movie, Big Fish, I believe we have all felt our imaginations take a hold of ou minds at some point, as we exaggerate, emphasize and modify our stories into something more. The power of story and imagination is a central theme of ‘Big Fish’ brought into the story by Edward Bloom, the highly imaginative story teller and father of William Bloom who is a completely opposite smart, factual writer. The two contradictory characters are the foremost conflict in the story. Will wants to know the truth about his father and parts of his life, but his father does not tell him anything but his tall tales. Even by looking with close detail into Edward’s stories Will fails to see the truth in them. The difference between the two and their forms of communication become so great that their relationship is destroyed. After years of not speaking that the power of story and imagination births in Will as he sits upon his father’s deathbed and opens his own mind into the world of fiction and fantasy.
The movie reviewer David Dicerto explained in his review that Tim Burton “strikes the perfect balance between the magical and the mundance, blending fantasy and reality to craft a timeless fairy tale that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. Its offbeat message serves as an antidote to the cataracts of cynicism afflicting society by inviting us to see life through more wonderful eyes. Burton has fulfilled the duty of the artist-which, according to G.K. Chesterson, is to awaken and keep alive the sense of wonder in man.” David’s insight regarding story and imagination as a cure for the clouded eyes of cynical people in society explains the importance that creativity is in our lives. He believes that at the core of humanity we find the imagination and creativity that diffracts us from animals, and describes to us what is means to be human. Our minds are driven by the power that imagination has and it is a need all humans have in life. To learn, grow and understand we must be imaginative and open our minds to new things. Tim Burton’s main idea’s may differ from what David Dicerto’s are, but we can draw that this teaches us that to be healthy as humans we must be open to using our imagination and develop the story-teller within each of us.
Will once the largest of cynics to imagination, becomes healed as he learns that the reason and truth behind the stories cannot be just black and white but rather a canvas of a spectrum no one can fully see. Everyone will take something different from each story but by hearing it we all can learn to grow and imagine. While trying to understand his father, Will confronts Edward by stating:
“I’m trying to make a metaphor here.”
“Then you shouldn’t have started with a question. Because people want to answer questions… You should have started with, “The thing about icebergs is…””
“Okay, okay- The thing about icebergs is you can only see 10%. The other 90% is below the water where you can’t see it. That’s what it is with you Dad. I’m only seeing this little bit that sticks above the water.”
In this conversation we learn that Will not only knows that he is unable to dive into his imagination to understand his father’s stories, but also that he is closed to the idea of it. He knows that he is missing the 90% and has to be more open to it, but he cannot find it himself. This demonstrates that without the power of imagination your intelligence is weakened. By not using his imagination Will cannot see the big picture and in turn cannot learn from his father’s stories.
This same thematic idea is discussed in George Faludy’s convocation speech. From him we hear his story of the true power of imagination and its importance in our lives. While being imprisoned at a Soviet Union concentration camp he began a lecture and learning group where prisoners could gather after long hard days to learn and share information keeping their minds healthy. George found that the prisoners that joined the group all survived and those that concentrated merely on their bodies and staying alive, were the ones to go crazy and die after trying to run into the snow. Now he explains that it was by learning and keeping a creative and imaginative mind alive while imprisoned that he survived and is here today.
We may never truly know some of the truths in Edward’s stories, but from that we find a truth. The truth that we cannot know every detail, so we have to fill in some of the blanks ourselves using our own imagination. This is recognized in the final scene between William and Edward as we notice that Will is able to finally appreciate his father and his stories. It is a turning point for William where we don’t find the answers but we gain insight on how to find them. By using our imaginations we are strong, smarter individuals and I believe that is the main issue being addressed in Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish.
Fearlessness
Many would ask to what extend would one go to in order to become completely fearless in life. In many situations in {1.png} life one can choose to be fearful of something rather than to be courageous simply because of the fact that they don’t know what the outcome is going to be. Many times however, the person realizes that they can be missing out on a lot of opportunities being fearful. Someone can be so scared to do something that when they finally do it they wonder to themselves why they were even being fearful about it in the first place. How a person can be fearless in life is to ignore the outcome of tough situations and do things despite the possibility that something bad could happen to them because in many cases doing something fearful can gain you experience and happiness. In the film Big Fish by Tim Burton the director shows situations where one of the main character’s has chosen to be fearless rather than fearful. However the situation that happened to this character for him to become fearless is one that wouldn’t happen to anyone of us realistically.
In the film Edward Bloom is an old man that tells stories about the situations that he has gone through in his life. The stories that he tells the people around him make him out to be a man that doesn’t fear the consequences of things. The main reason why this character doesn’t fear the consequences is the fact that he knows how he’s going to die. In the film he and his friends set out on a journey late at night when they were little kids to go to the witch’s house. It is said that if you look into the witch’s eye that you will see how you will go. Edward decided to look into the witch’s eye and when he looked it showed him dying at a very old age. I think because of him knowing this he became fearless. He didn’t care about the consequences because whatever he would do in his life, he knew that wouldn’t end up dying until he was in the same situation that showed in the witch’s eye. Edward’s fearless attitude gets him into scary but in the end good situations. One of the first times we see Edward being fearless is when everyone in the town is complaining about Karl the giant eating all of their life stock. Everyone was too fearful to go see Carl and tell him to leave the town. But because of Edward having no fear he voluntarily said that he would go and talk to Carl and in the end him and Carl left the town and became really good friends. Another situation was when he wanted to find out information about Sandra he did whatever he could do to get it. Karl and Edward begin working at the circus. Edward worked without pay, as he has been promised by the ringmaster, Amos Calloway to get information about Sandra. He went into the ring with lions, was trapped in a cage with two motorcycles driving above him and did back breaking work to figure out information. Many would say Edward was stupid for doing this dangerous circus work with no experience but he knew whatever he did at the circus he wouldn’t end up dying. But because of him doing all of this dangerous work he got to be reunited with Sandra and soon got married to her. Another situation in the story when Edward is being fearless is when he’s in the war. The war that he is in is against Korea. One night when the soldiers were jumping off the airplane Edward landed right on the top of the stage where all of the Korean soldiers were. It was only him that was on and around the stage. If the Koreans realized that he was there he would probably end up in a huge amount of trouble, plus it was only him against millions of Korean soldiers. The reason he did this was so that he could be reunited with his wife, Sandra. He got the Siamese twins that performed for the Korean soldiers to help him with his dangerous escape plan from Korea and back to his home town. To get back home was a very long, hard journey. He would have to travel across the ocean and there wasn’t a chance that he would make it back home alive. Many people wouldn’t do this because of the fear of dying but because Edward knows already how he’s going to die he plans to escape the war without hesitation. In the end he is granted another great experience. He becomes friends with the Siamese twins and helps them make their careers bigger and he got to be reunited with his wife.
What’s the significance of Edward being so fearless many would ask, perhaps it is that he lived his life to the fullest. He never let fear hold him back from situations in his life. He got to tell great stories that got passed down for generations. He didn’t have to stand on the side lines of life like many would do. Many people miss out on lots of opportunities because of fear but Edward wasn’t like that. Every situation he went through in life was difficult but with all of the difficult times he was granted with some extraordinary to come from it. I think that when Edward died he was completely satisfied with the life that he lived. When he was getting put into the lake to become the big fish the scene showed all of the people’s lives he touched in a positive way. If Edward wasn’t fearless in his life he wouldn’t have met as many as friends and touched each of their lives in great ways, simply because his fear wouldn’t have led him to the situations and people that he faced.
The Nature of Truth
Tim Burton addresses the theme The Nature of Truth through several scenes during his movie Big Fish. William is a very different man than his father, his father prefers to be flambouent, detailed and creative with every story that he tells about his past experiences and life journeys. As for William on the other hand likes his story to be raw and full of facts with no special affects. It’s because of these differences between them that Big Fish had such a strong storyline and impression on the imagination. William feels like he doesn’t know his father so in the last stretch of his fathers seemingly exciting and creative life he is determined to explore into who his father truly is. As William, his mother and wife attempt to declutter the garage William stumbles upon the deed that Jenny Hill had signed for her house in Spectre we notice him coming to terms with the fact that maybe his father isn’t completely falsifying his stories. William takes it upon himself to go meet Jenny Hill and find out if she could shed any light on the stories he had once heard as a child when she does he finds out that she resembles the witch his father had once told him about in a bedtime story. Figuring this out was when the theme The Nature of Truth really comes to the surface and Burton makes it clear that even though we may think of something being one way because that’s what we’ve been told it could truthfully be the complete opposite or just a shred of what is truly meant to be. These truths allowed William to really give his father one last hurrah before his passing by telling him one last bedtime story with lots of creativity. The story of how he goes.

Sandra Bloom is a middle aged women married to Edward Bloom, who is struggling to remain positive as her husband slowly fades. She is still completely in love with Bloom, never growing tired of his stories. Sandra contacts William, their son, and convinces him to come and visit. She hopes that William will grow to understand the deeper meanings behind her husband’s stories, whether it’s leaving the two alone or simply encouraging her son to open up to his father. She even gets William to help her go through Edward’s things, much of it working as evidence to help prove that not everything his father said was a lie. Sandra Bloom’s only desire is to simply have a family that is whole, without argument and anger, and for everyone to see Edward the way she does. She just wants Edward Bloom to be remembered as fondly as she will remember him.
Karl the Giant
{Karl the Giant2.jpg} When many people see a giant, they automatically think about a monster. This usually is true, except in the case of Karl the Giant where the director Tim Burton portrays him as a giant who just gets hungry and wants to eat. One day Karl leaves the town of Ashton to go join the circus and work for Amos Calloway who some may consider takes advantage of him. Karl the Giant isn’t a monster or a freak but a very large man with a big appetite.
A relation to Karl growing out of control could be when Edward recalls to William how he was bedridden when his body started to outgrow him and draws parallel to a goldfish growing to fit its habitat. Edward compared it to if a small fish lives in a small bowl it will never grow but if it is put in a bigger tank it will grow to fit the size of the tank. I believe that maybe Karl had the same problem that Edward had with his bones growing out of control.
One day in the town of Ashton, Alabama all of their citizens are mad because what they believe to be a monster is eating and destroying everything such as flocks of sheep, corn fields and even breaking a barn wall. One day Edward Bloom approaches Karl’s home which happens to be in a cave fearfully to ask him to leave Ashton. As Edward approaches the cave Karl powerfully tells him to “Go away”, as he didn’t want to be bothered. When Karl said “Go away” his voice was powerful enough to push Edward over. When Karl came out of his cave, Edward was very scared and offered Karl his hand to eat as he said he didn’t want to go back to Ashton. Edward tells Karl that Ashton is too small for the both of them and that they need to go to a bigger city. Karl and Edward decide to leave Ashton together come across a circus on their journey where the both of them will work.
On Edward’s and Karl’s journey to a large city the come across a circus where Karl impresses the ring leader with his size enough to get a contract and be part of the circus. When the ring leader known as Amos Calloway offers Karl the contract he asked two things, “Have you ever heard of the term involuntary servitude?” or "Unconscionable contract?” Karl, not knowing what the terms meant said “No” and signed the contract. Involuntary servitude and unconscionable contract basically mean that Karl will be a servant for Amos. When working for Amos in the circus, Karl amazes Amos’ audience and helps Amos make a bigger profit.
Karl the giant may be one of the biggest giants to be nice in film history as seen in Big Fish Karl never wanted to harm anyone. Karl always gave a helping hand and never wanted anything for ourselves. Throughout Karl’s journey with Edward from Ashton to the circus, he found someone who was there with him in Edward, and found a place that can handle his size at the circus.
Amos Calloway
{Amos and Soggeybottom.jpg} When you think of a “carny” what comes to mind? Is it that they’re cheerful and love what they do? Or is it that they are a mean selfish group of people who only want your hard earned money? The common conception is that they are a disgusting group of people who are mean and deceive you into believing that you can win their rigged games. While this is not true for all, it is true for the Famous Amos Calloway, the head honcho at a traveling circus he does all the hiring and coordination at the circus, with his partner Mr. Soggybottom they make sure the acts and the show run smoothly. Greedy, sneaky, and deceptive are three words that can describe these two characters, and while Amos helps one of the key characters in the film find his dream girl, he makes this character work day and night with no pay just promise of information every month in return for his services.

Although they are nearly synonymous, facts and truths are not necessarily the same things. You don’t
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of information that“won’tthat “won’t be complicated,
Born and raised in the small town of Ashton Alabama, Edward Bloom had great ambitions from the start. At eighteen years of age, he realizes that his ambition, like Karl the giant, was too big for his town. He embarks on his journey, passing though the town of Spectre, until he is hired at the circus so he can meet the girl he falls in love with. After courting and marrying Sandra Templeton, he is forced to serve his country in the Korean War. With help, Edward makes it back to his wife and puts his talents to use as a travelling salesman for the Handi-Matic. Along the way, he helps Norther Winslow become a millionaire, as well as the people of Spectre. As he gets older, he shares his stories with his son Will, with extra flair, until Will refused to listen to them. Towards the end of his life, Edward progressively gets weaker although still tells his tales to anyone who would listen.
Although some details in his stories were fabricated, Edward’s personality is evident in both his younger and older life. Several of his stories portray him as having a substantial amount of determination and fearlessness. One of the first examples of this is when he found Karl and convinced him to leave the town together. Edward was especially determined to meet (and marry) Sandra, which is shown by him working tirelessly at the circus just to learn her name. He also didn’t give up when he discovered that she was engaged to Don Price. Edward did everything he could to marry and stay with the love of his life – and he succeeded despite being conscripted into the Korean War. After reuniting with his wife, he made his way back to the run-down and bankrupt town of Spectre, and he did not rest until he bought and thereby saved the town. In his later years, he would tell his stories no matter how many times other people have heard them All of this proves that although he “may not have much, [he has] more determination than any man you’re ever going to meet.”

CHARACTERS
Edward Bloom
You don’t
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of information that “won’tthat“won’t be complicated,
Born and raised in the small town of Ashton Alabama, Edward Bloom had great ambitions from the start. At eighteen years of age, he realizes that his ambition, like Karl the giant, was too big for his town. He embarks on his journey, passing though the town of Spectre, until he is hired at the circus so he can meet the girl he falls in love with. After courting and marrying Sandra Templeton, he is forced to serve his country in the Korean War. With help, Edward makes it back to his wife and puts his talents to use as a travelling salesman for the Handi-Matic. Along the way, he helps Norther Winslow become a millionaire, as well as the people of Spectre. As he gets older, he shares his stories with his son Will, with extra flair, until Will refused to listen to them. Towards the end of his life, Edward progressively gets weaker although still tells his tales to anyone who would listen.
Although some details in his stories were fabricated, Edward’s personality is evident in both his younger and older life. Several of his stories portray him as having a substantial amount of determination and fearlessness. One of the first examples of this is when he found Karl and convinced him to leave the town together. Edward was especially determined to meet (and marry) Sandra, which is shown by him working tirelessly at the circus just to learn her name. He also didn’t give up when he discovered that she was engaged to Don Price. Edward did everything he could to marry and stay with the love of his life – and he succeeded despite being conscripted into the Korean War. After reuniting with his wife, he made his way back to the run-down and bankrupt town of Spectre, and he did not rest until he bought and thereby saved the town. In his later years, he would tell his stories no matter how many times other people have heard them All of this proves that although he “may not have much, [he has] more determination than any man you’re ever going to meet.”
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Edward is also described as very likeable and sociable throughout his life. From his teenage years, everybody in the towns of Ashton and Spectre wanted him to stay forever. With his charming personality, he easily made friends with nearly everyone he met. In his later years, all of the recipients of his stories except for his son were glad to listen to him. He was so well known and respected that everyone who knew him as a friend in the past came to his funeral. His imagination and general good nature earned him an important part of all of those people’s lives.
imaginative story.
Edward maintains a firm belief throughout the film: some truths are better understood through fantastical tales. This static view even sparks a change of perspective in his son. Edward’s likeable and determined personality increases the effect of his stories on others. Although he died of a stroke at the film’s conclusion, his imagination never dried out. Although it is sometimes difficult to “separate the fact from the fiction [or] the man from the myth,” Edward Bloom shows us that hard facts don’t always convey a better message than a well thought out and creative tale.
William Bloom
In the film Edward Bloom is an old man that tells stories about the situations that he has gone through in his life. The stories that he tells the people around him make him out to be a man that doesn’t fear the consequences of things. The main reason why this character doesn’t fear the consequences is the fact that he knows how he’s going to die. In the film he and his friends set out on a journey late at night when they were little kids to go to the witch’s house. It is said that if you look into the witch’s eye that you will see how you will go. Edward decided to look into the witch’s eye and when he looked it showed him dying at a very old age. I think because of him knowing this he became fearless. He didn’t care about the consequences because whatever he would do in his life, he knew that wouldn’t end up dying until he was in the same situation that showed in the witch’s eye. Edward’s fearless attitude gets him into scary but in the end good situations. One of the first times we see Edward being fearless is when everyone in the town is complaining about Karl the giant eating all of their life stock. Everyone was too fearful to go see Carl and tell him to leave the town. But because of Edward having no fear he voluntarily said that he would go and talk to Carl and in the end him and Carl left the town and became really good friends. Another situation was when he wanted to find out information about Sandra he did whatever he could do to get it. Karl and Edward begin working at the circus. Edward worked without pay, as he has been promised by the ringmaster, Amos Calloway to get information about Sandra. He went into the ring with lions, was trapped in a cage with two motorcycles driving above him and did back breaking work to figure out information. Many would say Edward was stupid for doing this dangerous circus work with no experience but he knew whatever he did at the circus he wouldn’t end up dying. But because of him doing all of this dangerous work he got to be reunited with Sandra and soon got married to her. Another situation in the story when Edward is being fearless is when he’s in the war. The war that he is in is against Korea. One night when the soldiers were jumping off the airplane Edward landed right on the top of the stage where all of the Korean soldiers were. It was only him that was on and around the stage. If the Koreans realized that he was there he would probably end up in a huge amount of trouble, plus it was only him against millions of Korean soldiers. The reason he did this was so that he could be reunited with his wife, Sandra. He got the Siamese twins that performed for the Korean soldiers to help him with his dangerous escape plan from Korea and back to his home town. To get back home was a very long, hard journey. He would have to travel across the ocean and there wasn’t a chance that he would make it back home alive. Many people wouldn’t do this because of the fear of dying but because Edward knows already how he’s going to die he plans to escape the war without hesitation. In the end he is granted another great experience. He becomes friends with the Siamese twins and helps them make their careers bigger and he got to be reunited with his wife.
What’s the significance of Edward being so fearless many would ask, perhaps it is that he lived his life to the fullest. He never let fear hold him back from situations in his life. He got to tell great stories that got passed down for generations. He didn’t have to stand on the side lines of life like many would do. Many people miss out on lots of opportunities because of fear but Edward wasn’t like that. Every situation he went through in life was difficult but with all of the difficult times he was granted with some extraordinary to come from it. I think that when Edward died he was completely satisfied with the life that he lived. When he was getting put into the lake to become the big fish the scene showed all of the people’s lives he touched in a positive way. If Edward wasn’t fearless in his life he wouldn’t have met as many as friends and touched each of their lives in great ways, simply because his fear wouldn’t have led him to the situations and people that he faced.
The Nature of Truth
Tim Burton addresses the theme The Nature of Truth through several scenes during his movie Big Fish. William is a very different man than his father, his father prefers to be flambouent, detailed and creative with every story that he tells about his past experiences and life journeys. As for William on the other hand likes his story to be raw and full of facts with no special affects. It’s because of these differences between them that Big Fish had such a strong storyline and impression on the imagination. William feels like he doesn’t know his father so in the last stretch of his fathers seemingly exciting and creative life he is determined to explore into who his father truly is. As William, his mother and wife attempt to declutter the garage William stumbles upon the deed that Jenny Hill had signed for her house in Spectre we notice him coming to terms with the fact that maybe his father isn’t completely falsifying his stories. William takes it upon himself to go meet Jenny Hill and find out if she could shed any light on the stories he had once heard as a child when she does he finds out that she resembles the witch his father had once told him about in a bedtime story. Figuring this out was when the theme The Nature of Truth really comes to the surface and Burton makes it clear that even though we may think of something being one way because that’s what we’ve been told it could truthfully be the complete opposite or just a shred of what is truly meant to be. These truths allowed William to really give his father one last hurrah before his passing by telling him one last bedtime story with lots of creativity. The story of how he goes.

CHARACTERS
Edward Bloom
{Edward Mature.jpg}Although they are nearly synonymous, facts and truths are not necessarily the same things. You don’t
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always need to find precise facts to understand the truth. Factual stories can deliver a boatload of information that “won’t be complicated, but it won’t be interesting either.” Director Tim Burton explores this topic extensively in his film Big Fish. Edward Bloom understands that interesting stories and tales of his life convey a deeper understanding of him than simply the facts can. Through his determination, social skills and imagination, Edward excels throughout his life and is able to share his experiences in fantastical yet powerful tales.
Born and raised in the small town of Ashton Alabama, Edward Bloom had great ambitions from the start. At eighteen years of age, he realizes that his ambition, like Karl the giant, was too big for his town. He embarks on his journey, passing though the town of Spectre, until he is hired at the circus so he can meet the girl he falls in love with. After courting and marrying Sandra Templeton, he is forced to serve his country in the Korean War. With help, Edward makes it back to his wife and puts his talents to use as a travelling salesman for the Handi-Matic. Along the way, he helps Norther Winslow become a millionaire, as well as the people of Spectre. As he gets older, he shares his stories with his son Will, with extra flair, until Will refused to listen to them. Towards the end of his life, Edward progressively gets weaker although still tells his tales to anyone who would listen.
Although some details in his stories were fabricated, Edward’s personality is evident in both his younger and older life. Several of his stories portray him as having a substantial amount of determination and fearlessness. One of the first examples of this is when he found Karl and convinced him to leave the town together. Edward was especially determined to meet (and marry) Sandra, which is shown by him working tirelessly at the circus just to learn her name. He also didn’t give up when he discovered that she was engaged to Don Price. Edward did everything he could to marry and stay with the love of his life – and he succeeded despite being conscripted into the Korean War. After reuniting with his wife, he made his way back to the run-down and bankrupt town of Spectre, and he did not rest until he bought and thereby saved the town. In his later years, he would tell his stories no matter how many times other people have heard them All of this proves that although he “may not have much, [he has] more determination than any man you’re ever going to meet.”
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Edward is also described as very likeable and sociable throughout his life. From his teenage years, everybody in the towns of Ashton and Spectre wanted him to stay forever. With his charming personality, he easily made friends with nearly everyone he met. In his later years, all of the recipients of his stories except for his son were glad to listen to him. He was so well known and respected that everyone who knew him as a friend in the past came to his funeral. His imagination and general good nature earned him an important part of all of those people’s lives.
As an older man, Edward recognizes that his imagination has started to dry out. In one of his tales as a young boy, he claims to have seen how he dies in the glass eye of the witch. Instead of being frightened he thought that seeing his death would help him “because you’d know that everything else you can survive.” Sick and with little energy, Edward knows that he is dying, but he refuses to let that destroy his sense of imagination. He uses water, something sustainable and essential, as a symbol of his imagination multiple times. His many stories originated because he had “been thirsty [his] whole life.” Like a big fish, he submerges himself completely because he feels himself drying out, in his body and his creativity. He refuses to die by something as simple as a stroke when there could be a deeper meaning in an imaginative story.
Edward maintains a firm belief throughout the film: some truths are better understood through fantastical tales. This static view even sparks a change of perspective in his son. Edward’s likeable and determined personality increases the effect of his stories on others. Although he died of a stroke at the film’s conclusion, his imagination never dried out. Although it is sometimes difficult to “separate the fact from the fiction [or] the man from the myth,” Edward Bloom shows us that hard facts don’t always convey a better message than a well thought out and creative tale.
William Bloom
{William.jpg} William Bloom
William went upstairs to go talk to his father for the first time in 3 years and Edward continues to tell his stories.
Since Will knew that his father exaggerates all of the stories that he tells, Will has been unable to feel that he can trust Edward. He feels like he really doesn’t know much about his father, and Will thinks that his dad, when he was there, raised Will with nothing but lies. Will says to his wife Josephine “When I was growing up, he was gone more than he was here, and I started thinking, maybe he has a second life somewhere else. With another family, another house, he leaves us, he goes to them. Or maybe there is no second family. Maybe he never wanted a family. But whatever it is, maybe he likes his second life better, and the reason he tells all those stories, is because he can’t stand this boring place.”
While Edward Bloom is slowly dying, Will is eager to find out who his father really is. Will was having a conversation with Sandra and she said “It was during the war. Your father went missing, They thought he was dead”. Will replies shockingly with “That really happened?” “Not everything your father says is a complete fabrication.” Will was starting to wonder if maybe he had been thinking that everything his father was saying was a lie, but some of the stories he told were true.
Edward Bloom had a stroke and was in the hospital about to pass away and Will was staying the night in the hospital. This being the last conversation that they would have together, Edward tells Will to tell the story of how he is going to die. Will tells him this exaggerated story about how he breaks his father out of the hospital and takes him to the river where the big fish is. When they get to the river Will carries his father like a baby all the down to the river. The whole town of Ashton and Spectre are there to applaud and say their goodbye’s before Edward moves on. Will carries him into the water until he is about thigh deep in the water and slowly puts his father into the water. Once he hits the water he turns into the big fish. After Wil tells the story, his father had passed away in his hospital bed. It was a special moment for Will that he got to use his imagination and make up a story for his father before he passed away.
William Bloom
Sandra Templeton Bloom
{Sandra Bloom.jpg}

CHARACTERS
Edward Bloom
{Edward Mature.jpg} William Bloom is a 30 year old salesman who is introduced into the movie “Big Fish” directed by Tim Burton, at his own wedding party where his dad Edward Bloom was telling a story about how when William was born, Edward was catching a big fish using his wedding ring as bait. Will gets very annoyed when his father tells the same fantasy tales over and over that he had to hear growing up a kid, but Will knows that his father over exaggerates his stories to make them untrue. Will and Edward had an argument after the wedding party which resulted in them not talking for the next 3 years. But once Edward started to have health problems, Will and his wife Josephine went back to Ashton, Alabama to visit them.
William went upstairs to go talk to his father for the first time in 3 years and Edward continues to tell his stories.
Since Will knew that his father exaggerates all of the stories that he tells, Will has been unable to feel that he can trust Edward. He feels like he really doesn’t know much about his father, and Will thinks that his dad, when he was there, raised Will with nothing but lies. Will says to his wife Josephine “When I was growing up, he was gone more than he was here, and I started thinking, maybe he has a second life somewhere else. With another family, another house, he leaves us, he goes to them. Or maybe there is no second family. Maybe he never wanted a family. But whatever it is, maybe he likes his second life better, and the reason he tells all those stories, is because he can’t stand this boring place.”
While Edward is staying in bed all day, Will goes to talk to him about the lies he has been telling. Will says “Do you know much about ice bergs dad?” Edward replies “Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn’t count on an elephant being frozen inside.” Another story that Will knew was a lie. Will said “The thing about icebergs is you only see 10 percent. The other 90 percent is below the water where you can’t see it. That’s what it is with you dad. I am only seeing the little bit that sticks above the water”. Will is implying to his father that he knows nothing about him.
While Edward Bloom is slowly dying, Will is eager to find out who his father really is. Will was having a conversation with Sandra and she said “It was during the war. Your father went missing, They thought he was dead”. Will replies shockingly with “That really happened?” “Not everything your father says is a complete fabrication.” Will was starting to wonder if maybe he had been thinking that everything his father was saying was a lie, but some of the stories he told were true.
Edward Bloom had a stroke and was in the hospital about to pass away and Will was staying the night in the hospital. This being the last conversation that they would have together, Edward tells Will to tell the story of how he is going to die. Will tells him this exaggerated story about how he breaks his father out of the hospital and takes him to the river where the big fish is. When they get to the river Will carries his father like a baby all the down to the river. The whole town of Ashton and Spectre are there to applaud and say their goodbye’s before Edward moves on. Will carries him into the water until he is about thigh deep in the water and slowly puts his father into the water. Once he hits the water he turns into the big fish. After Wil tells the story, his father had passed away in his hospital bed. It was a special moment for Will that he got to use his imagination and make up a story for his father before he passed away.
William Bloom
Sandra Templeton Bloom
Karl the Giant
Amos Calloway
his services.
Amos
Amos is shown Amos is.
While
While he took find her.
Throughout the whole time you see Amos in the film he is shown to only be in it for himself and his business, tricking Karl into working for him for little to no money and giving Edward glimpses of hope that he will find his dream girl. This makes everyone believe that Amos is a deceptive character, which is true but that is not the only key characteristic he possesses, he shows when he transforms back from the werewolf that he is not only a kind man but also very misunderstood. Amos shows how big his heart truly is and just like the werewolf he may seem mean and terrible, but in reality he is a man who is trapped by hatred and selfishness and perceived as one as well because of his pasted.
Ping & Jing

Karl the Giant
Amos Calloway
{Amos and Soggeybottom.jpg} When you think of a “carny” what comes to mind? Is it that they’re cheerful and love what they do? Or is it that they are a mean selfish group of people who only want your hard earned money? The common conception is that they are a disgusting group of people who are mean and deceive you into believing that you can win their rigged games. While this is not true for all, it is true for the Famous Amos Calloway, the head honcho at a traveling circus he does all the hiring and coordination at the circus, with his partner Mr. Soggybottom they make sure the acts and the show run smoothly. Greedy, sneaky, and deceptive are three words that can describe these two characters, and while Amos helps one of the key characters in the film find his dream girl, he makes this character work day and night with no pay just promise of information every month in return for his services.
Amos is shown to have a very exciting circus, lined up with an assortment of different “freaks” however when his giant “Colossus” or “El Penumbra” meaning the shadow, get shown up by Karl the Giant he is immediately drawn to Karl. This is the first scene in the movie where you see Amos showing signs of being a “crook.” He says, “tell me Karl have you ever heard the term involuntary servitude?” he also asks if he knows what an unconscionable contract is. Karl not knowing either of the two is rushed into selling himself to the circus, which turns out to be good for Karl because he finally has a place to go but he also is getting little to no pay and is a slave to the circus. Also while he has already trapped Karl into working for him, he then gives Edward a job, but without pay instead Edward has to work day and night for the promise of receiving a hint on who the girl of his dreams are every month. Edward, infatuated by love takes the deal and works at the circus for three years without pay, and even though Amos kept his promise of the hints every month they were very bland and blunt hints that would give Edward little to no hint on who she is and how he could find her. Hints like “her favourite flowers are daffodils” or “she likes music” while every singles month this would just infatuated Edward more with the girl he loved. Perhaps Amos planned this out so that he could extend his time using Edward as a slave, doing work that nobody else wanted to do, knowing that as long as he kept Edward infatuated with the girl he could keep him there forever. Showing just how manipulative and deceptive Amos is.
While he took up a good portion of Edwards’s life, Amos doesn’t truly see how big Edwards ambition truly is, some may even say he has a “giant ambition.” It is not until Edward finally has enough of this gimmick that Amos is putting on and goes to his trailer where he finds Amos’ trailer shaking and he hears growling on the inside. He opens the door to find Amos, but it is not the normal Amos, he has been turned into a beast by the night, a werewolf. After a fight between the werewolf and Edward, where Edward is shot by the emotional Soggybottom and then treats the werewolf like a trained dog and throws a stick until Amos returns to his normal state and finally realizes just how much Edward truly loves and wants to marry this woman, he finally tells Edward the love of his life’s name and is released to go and find her.
Throughout the whole time you see Amos in the film he is shown to only be in it for himself and his business, tricking Karl into working for him for little to no money and giving Edward glimpses of hope that he will find his dream girl. This makes everyone believe that Amos is a deceptive character, which is true but that is not the only key characteristic he possesses, he shows when he transforms back from the werewolf that he is not only a kind man but also very misunderstood. Amos shows how big his heart truly is and just like the werewolf he may seem mean and terrible, but in reality he is a man who is trapped by hatred and selfishness and perceived as one as well because of his pasted.
Ping & Jing
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