Is Big Fish a character driven narrative, or does the narrative shapeits characters?

In my opinion I feel that Big Fish is a film that’s narrative is driven by its character. I think that Tim Burton thought of the main character of Edward Bloom and then shaped its narrative around his main personality and character. The story is of an old man who is dying in rural Alabama, his son returns home to see him one final time. He asks his father to tell him the truth behind the elaborate and unlikely stories he has been told since he was a child - but his father insists that every word of his tall tales of circuses, bank robbers, Siamese twins and the main story line of a massive real fish that he once caught.

 The main narratives are: 

•Non-linear narratives – flash backs, flash forwards, dream sequences, alternative “universes”. There are a lot of flash backs that are used for the story’s of Edward Bloom that tell the story to the audience. The use of the dream sequence is also a key part to the ending of the film in which Edwards son finally tells his own story before his father dies. 

•Dual-narrative – two characters “narrate” the story… or two characters show their different perspectives (old and young Edward Bloom). 

•Symbolism: when something gives a larger and more abstract idea/meaning. For example the daffodils above symbolise new beginnings for spring which is what Edward has started) or the attribution of symbolic meaning or character to something. 

•Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to imply a resemblance (e.g. the ‘your quite a catch’ referring to the large fish that Edward says is real and that he caught it). There are a lot of metaphors in the film that help to shape the narrative, the main narrative is driven by the character who wants to people to believe his story’s and his main story of the massive fish in the lake. This idea is repeated throughout the story with metaphors like the quote “truth is I’ve been thirsty my whole life” which is linked to the story of the big fish living in water and this quote links with the fish living in water because its saying the character wants to be the fish a live ‘in a big pond’.

•Lighting, colour and shapes symbolically work to metaphorically convey the themes and ideas of the film via the production design. Most lighting is natural which gives a normal view of the stories and makes them more believable. Before Edward is about to die there is high key artificial lighting that could suggest he is about to be relieved and become free. 

Todorov: 

•Equilibrium- The beginning when Edward Bloom is telling his son his story’s and he is very interested and then the story skips to his son in later life when he is getting married and that his father is still telling the same old story’s and he is now bored of them and realises they are lies and made up. 

•Disrupt- Edwards’s son has now fell out with his father because he thinks he is just telling lies and embarrassing him and his father. This is then disrupted by Edward falling ill and his wife calling his son because she thinks it’s serious. They then talk again, Edward tells the audience and his son’s wife more of his stories and gives his life experiences. 

•Restored- Then Edwards son finds a document and finds a friend from his fathers past and then reveals that not all of Edwards story’s were lies but just changed to make them interesting for him, he finds that his Father helped improve the lives of a lot of people and when returning back to forgive his father properly he finds he has had a stoke and is in hospital. He then speaks with his father before his death and finally tells the last story of his father becoming the fish in the lake that he always used to speak off. This then completes the story with both a happy ending of the father and son becoming happy again and Edward becoming free but sad due to his death.

Propp: 

•Protagonist- Edward Bloom/William Bloom 

•Antagonist- Some friends 

•Heroine- Edwards Wife & eventually freedom 

•Donor- Circus master, tells Edward where to find his wife. 

•Father- Edward to William 

•Helper- Friends (circus, poet, etc) 

To conclude I think that all of these factors contribute towards a large narrative that was driven by the character. The character of Edward Bloom had developed a lot of the metaphors and mise en scene that build the very clever and interesting story lines that work well tougher. The audience is told the whole story first through Edwards’s eyes, which gives the impression that, the narrative is based around this character but then is made more believable and true because of his son that finds the truth. Because of Edwards’s stories the mise en scene is affected like the dark and spooky scene when Edward is going through the woods or the natural scene with the daffodils that has strong feeling and love. This narrative is also affected with the main story of the big fish living in the river that Edward fished in, this story line is brought up through the film with the water/fish related quotes that Edward says like “you’re quite a catch” that then enforces the fish storyline. This could mean that Edward wants to be free and ‘a big fish in a small pond’. Finally I feel that Tim Burton meant for Edward Bloom to shape the narrative based on his character and this is why his character is so strong and clear.