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
William says that the day he’s born, Edward Bloom is mowing the lawn while smoking and listening to the radio, captivated by the college football game between Auburn (his former school) and their longtime rivals Alabama, while his shoulders grow red with sunburn. Inside, Sandra, heavily pregnant and sweating profusely despite the air conditioning, stares at the electricity bill and thinks “soon.” Sandra doesn’t yet know that soon they won’t need to worry about paying bills any more. Suddenly, she realizes William is coming. She gets her hospital bag as the game plays out, and it’s looking like Auburn is going to lose. Sandra screams, Edward screams, William is born, and Auburn wins. The world becomes a “joyous place.”
Sandra’s worries about the electricity bill show that Edward and Sandra have been struggling financially, but also that Edward has not given up and has continued to push forward in his career. This has not been in vain, as his perseverance and ambition are about to pay off, despite the couple’s struggles. The joy that Edward and Sandra feel at William’s arrival into the world indicate how fiercely they both love William, something which William only starts to connect with as he recounts the parts of Edward’s life in which William features.
Themes
