One of the most cherished and misunderstood aspect of life is the relationship between a father and his son. Fear, love and admiration go hand in hand in the bond between father and son and often, these lines can become blurred. As was the case in the movie “Big Fish”, despite the initial problems in the relationship between father and son caused by exaggerated stories told by the father, the stories inevitably brought them closer in the end. In the midst of a difficult times in Will Blooms life caused by his father’s embellished stories, Will learns that eventually. The running theme of the entire movie “Big Fish” was stories; the stories told by Edward at every occasion, the story told by Will about his father telling stories and most importantly the story of their lives. Will and Edward’s relationship was defined by the stories Edward had started telling Will as a child and then proceeded to integrate into his life even as he reached adulthood. Will was not at all pleased by his father’s storytelling and referred to it as drawing too much attention to him. This created a large gap between Will and Edward after Edward had toasted Will at his wedding with yet another story about himself which he referred to as the “Big Fish” story about Will’s birth. Promptly after the toast Will pulled his father aside and remarked “You’re embarrassing yourself, Dad.
You just don’t see it” (Screenplay, 2003). This marked a 3 year period in which the father and son did not communicate directly. This obviously had a large impact on Will’s idea of his father after the pent up anger had been released the night of the wedding. The pent up anger released on the wedding night shows the built up frustration from Will’s childhood up until the night of. This occurrence on the wedding night lead up to Will and his father not speaking until Edward got really sick. Will begins by stating the impact the absence of his father has had on his life and how “He was gone more than he was here…” and that made Will doubtful about his father’s loyalties to the family (Screenplay, 2003). It seemed as though all through Will’s childhood he had lived under the impression that his father has a secret family that he would leave so often to go visit. It allowed Will to convince himself that his father’s stories were alternate realities in which he existed in order not to spend time with his actual family.
As Will became of age he realized the difference between the stories and reality and felt deceived; he felt as though he had never really known his father and considered him to be fake on the outside. Will confronted his father one day and admitted to feeling distant from him because he “[you] have never told me a single fact…” and believed every story he had ever told him was purely and amusing lie (Screenplay 2003). Throughout his childhood up to his adult life Will always felt neglected. The relationship between father and son was incredible stressed because of the exaggerated stories Edward told. The stories created an alternate reality for Edward which Will assumed was in order to get him out of his regular life. Edward, being of an entirely different mindset than Will, responded simply with blaming the problem on Will.
This created quite a drift in the relationship because despite the fact that Edward was telling the truth through his stories with some added details, he didn’t fully explain to Will that his life was not based off of lies. The communication aspect of their relationship was a major cause to the failing bond. “Big Fish” teaches the audience about the need for children to give time to their parents, to understand the depths of their lessons and stories. Furthermore, Will’s patience with his father at the end allowed him to grasp and comprehend the complexity of each of Edward’s stories. He then applied the stories to Edward’s actual life events and came to understand that a lot of the stories were not complete fabrications but were simply embellished versions of his life. Although at the beginning of “Big Fish” Will seemed to only be an ungrateful child and his father the wise old man with a plethora of stories to tell, the story was much more complex than that. “Big Fish” breaks away from the clichés of the average father and son problems and introduces a broader, more complex situation. A situation in which both the father and son are at fault, yet are both equally innocent. Edward’s fault being his communication skills, his stories were marvelous but up to an extent. After a certain period in time he needed to explain the meaning behind his tall tales, and enforce the truthful aspects of the story more than the details. This would result in a better response from Will, a more open and trusting relationship between father and son.
However; Will also had his shortcomings, he could have been more tolerant of the fact that his father had his own style of communicating with his. He could have been less defensive and more accepting of his father. In the end Edward did tell Will everything about his life, although a little fabricated. He remained faithful to his wife and family and Will realized in the end how great of a man his father truly was and what the stories symbolized for him. “Big Fish” allows the audience to see Edward and Will’s entire relationship from a broader perspective than the individuals in the story can. When the audience has the ability to view both sides of the picture they realize that in the end, no one was at fault and it works out favorably. Both the father and son were able to come to terms with their relationship and work it out for the better. Edward passed away on the note his entire life was based on, a story. The beauty of the movie was that his dying story came from the mouth of Will. Will who finally understood that his father had to tell him stories of the glass eye and Spectre the perfect town in order to teach him about life. In order for Will to comprehend the lessons of the world he had to understand the metaphors the stories presented for him. Though that understanding he achieved enlightenment by the end of the movie as did Edward when he died peacefully listening to his final story.
