Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions

Beyond the Words... Wallace’s work is full of allusions to the Bible and to Greek mythology. From the title to the last word, this book is about creating and sustaining a personal mythology. The allusions serve to give a universal quality to the work so that people can relate to it easily.

Undercurrent In the first 23 pages, find as many references to death as you can...

PART ONE From the second line of the novel, “... near the end of my father’s life as a man...,” it is apparent that Edward Bloom is already a legend, beyond being just an ordinary man, a myth of sorts. At the end of page 2, Edward is described through paradoxes. – a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true –b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true –c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises. Clearly the potential for re-birth is here.

Birth Edward’s is shrouded in legendary conditions, but his parents are presented in impersonal and archetypal terms. He is further mythologized during “In Which he Speaks to Animals.” Even his growth, physically and intellectually, is legendary.

Doctors and Dying “It is this same man who is ushering my father from the world...” is a sharp contrast from the image of a doctor as a healer. “Death was the worst thing that could ever have happened to my father” (15). “... the growing sickness that disabled him in this life, even as they seemed to be priming him for the next” (15). While it is clear that Edward Bloom will die, readers must decide if legends ever really die, especially ones of a nature as personal as the ones to which the narrator clings.

On Death...Again “’Remembering a man’s stories makes him immortal, did you know that?’” is an allusion to a Shakespearian sonnet. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” “... I believe for a moment that this must be the passage of his spirit going from this world to the next.”

Magical Realism “A type of contemporary narrative in which the magical and the mundane are mixed in the overall context of realistic storytelling; this tradition has its roots in everyday Latin American fiction and has become the standard name for an international trend in contemporary fiction” (Kennedy and Gioia). “The Girl in the River” on page 24 is just one example of this.

Literary Randomness “How He Tamed the Giant” might parallel Edward’s own growth somewhat; however, it is more similar to some demented Paul Bunyan tale or perhaps it symbolizes/satirizes a growing society. “In Which He Goes Fishing” there is a flood & a catfish similar to the mammoth one in Huck Finn. The novel is called Big Fish, the title likened to Edward. In this chapter, there is a “real-live” big fish, a LEGEND. “Irony trumps all”—water is associated with re-birth, yet there is a graveyard under Big Lake. Homer Kittridge might refer to the blind Greek poet who wrote The Odyssey... Quest anyone? Jumping fish have been thought of as Christ representations. “The Day He Left Ashland” (Wanna talk about the name of the town?)—after the water—is the day that he “became a man.”

More stuff to consider “And so they said good-bye” (37). His parents will never see him again because he will not be the same person. Heraclitus anyone? “You can never step into the same river twice...” The dog as a gatekeeper is a direct reference to Greek mythology... Cerberus... There is a contrast with the title of the last chapter of Part One- -”Entering a New World,” a chapter rich with signs of myth and legend, the sort of inaccuracies that people generally just accept if they believe in folklore, legends, myths, or fish stories. Michelangelo’s Pieta is another allusion.

All myths have the quality of truth to them...