Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Big Fish, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ambition, Courage, and Personal Fulfilment
Truth, Myth, and Immortality
Love, Flaws, and Acceptance
The Redemptive Power of Laughter
Summary
Analysis
People say that Edward never forgets a name, face, color, nor even the sound of different people’s shoes as they walk. He grows tall quickly—so quickly that his bones can’t keep up, and he dangles like a vine, collapsing into a heap every time he tries to stand. Confined to his bed, Edward reads voraciously. Some say he reads 10,000 books, including the phone book. He’s rumored to know more than everybody, even the librarian. William says Edward’s already a big fish.
Although Edward is confined to his bed, he turns the setback into an opportunity to learn and stretch himself as a person. Edward’s voracious reading exposes his desire for adventure. Edward absorbs the world through literature, showing that he is a “big fish.” Fish only grow as big as the pond they live in, and the metaphor shows that Edward is hungry for more exposure to the world so that he can grow bigger. In this tale, William thus emphasizes Edward’s intelligence, optimism, and his hunger for adventure.
Themes
