Metaphors in Big Fish
My wife and I just saw Big Fish and loved it. We spent hours talking about the metaphors you used, especially what Spectre represented. How do you decide whether to hit people over the head with it or leave it up for interpretation? And are you okay with people coming up with different interpretations?
–Pete Safran
Like pornography and irony, metaphors are hard to define, but easy to spot: “The ship plowed the sea,” or “She was a bobcat in the sack.” Ships don’t plow, and bobcats don’t sleep in beds, but in both cases the author’s intention is clear. Essentially, a metaphor uses the meaning of one term (the “meta” part) to carry over (the “phor” part) to an otherwise unrelated situation. Basically, a metaphor is a comparison — something “like” something else — but without using the word “like,” which would make it a simile.
Still with me?
In terms of Big Fish, metaphor doesn’t feel like quite the right word to describe Spectre. While there are lots of things Spectre is “like” — Heaven, Hell, the Afterlife, a ghost town, Utopia, Oz, Shangri-La — any comparisons the viewer draws are based on how he interprets the imagery and events of the scene. For instance, everyone is dressed in shimmering whites and yellows (which seems Heavenly), but the river is full of leeches and alluring sirens (not Heavenly). The town’s mayor welcomes Edward with a clipboard and finds Edward’s name (which feels like the Afterlife), but people grow old (which doesn’t).
So if you try to force just one interpretation onto Spectre, you’re going to be disappointed. And in fact, Spectre is supposed to be a lot of different things at once. It’s the mythical town that Edward was hoping to find, but he found it too quickly. It’s a poor Southern town subject to liens and bankruptcy, which only Edward can save. It’s the location of Edward’s sexual awakening (the girl in the river) and his near-affair (with Jenny Hill). If anything, it’s a beautiful trap that Edward stumbles into twice.
Interestingly, the original inspiration for Spectre was quite a lot darker. In Daniel Wallace’s novel, this section is the road out of Ashland, and features a dog that bites your fingers off. For the movie, Spectre became its own place, and the dog got moved to the circus scene.
Am I okay with people coming up with their own interpretations? Well, I have to be. Unless I want a character to explicitly state what a story element represents, there will always be different interpretations. And the point of the film is that finding the actual, hard truth behind things is often a fool’s errand. The issue of whether Edward Bloom ever visited Spectre in his youth is ultimately less important than what he said, and why.
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October 21st, 2004 at 6:27 pm
I like when Edward and Jenny are walking back from the river in Spectre and Jenny brings up the fact that they are ten years a part. And how she jumps from her being 8 and him 18 upto him being 48 and her 38 and how that’s not much difference at all. And when leaves Spectre for the first time how she ran up to him and asked him to promise to come back. Being so young yet pushing this subject…
April 9th, 2005 at 3:43 pm
I watched the film for the first time yesterday. I can’t get to remove it of my head as well as my will of becoming a screenwriter. The best film than I saw from ” Gangs of New York “. But, at the same time I think our hero ” Edward Bloom ” lived that whole history but he drank a tea of mushroom before and he left for the world. I believe in him above all!!!! He is our hero! Thanks from Brazil.
May 21st, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Spectre seems an amalgam of conceptual metaphors, a conceptual field of more than one possible meaning or theme with its own rule set - this, I think, is why Mr. Safran described it as a metaphor. Which it is. Its just a complicated one.
A metaphor occurs when one concept is used to map or describe another concept. Take one of John’s examples: “she’s a bobcat in the sack” describes one concept - a woman (or more specifically a woman’s sexuality) - in terms of another: a wild and rather dangerous pussy. One concept describes the other.
Metaphor is a cognitive heuristic that is arguably one of the more fundamental habits humans have for understanding and describing the universe.
The one employed for Spectre is just on impressionistic or abstract end of the spectrum.
August 27th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
I think Spectre represents Eden.You know,the snake,the naked girl aka Eve.But man was thrown out of Eden and to go back there is only asking for trouble.And when the poet stayed in Spectre,his talent degenerated.This shows that too much of something good can be bad.
February 10th, 2006 at 8:48 am
@travis Uhm. You seem to be convinced that it is possible to find more in the text than the author was intended to write… I will not say that it is impossible, but then it is not enough to talk about the snake and the naked girl. In this case the girl is rescued by Edward and the snake is just a stick. In this case the shoes are hanging over the town (a kind of high heels?) what definitly was not in eden. So up to know I can’t believe more than John August said: Spectre represents nothing special, but a lot of places. (Just read the book again and found a very different spectre.)
December 12th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
We watched big fish in class today and we needed to find metaphors in it as our homework so this helpped alot, thanks!!!
December 12th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
My brother’s name is Tobias!!! lol
December 14th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
I loved the ending when all figurative story telling, larger than life was shed to become REAL. I missed my dad when I watched this movie.
December 30th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
Well i agree greatly with the Eden thing. im writing a report on this movie for mythology… the way i saw it was that spectre was a town of unconsciousness… unconsciousness being, not aware of difference. In adam and Eve Eden was a place of unconsciousness..Adam and Eve were able to feel ok with walking around naked in front of each other. When they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they gained conciousness and were aware of difference. they were able to see that “oh my gosh! we’re naked and youre a man and i’m a woman”. in Spectre people are in that form of Edan unconsciousness and its great! its a “reward” for the hard route. no one in the town has shoes because no one ever leaves and there is no evil. BUT being unconscious it is also lacking imagination. that is why norther could not think of anything to write. he lost his imagination or his consciousness. there are connotations of Edward being Christ like in this part but i wont go into that… anyways, he has to leave, and just like in many myth, his journey to gain consciousness is painful. he has no shoes and he travels in a dark forest. when we are born the journey to gain conciousness is painful, though we are too young to remember. leaving Edan was painful. mythology is suppose to expose truths that apply to everyone all the time. and this is what this movie does. yea. im done with my rant.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Spectre represents the American dream. The shoes that were flung on top of the wires was a symbol that after you reach the American dream there is no progression in spectre, no imagination. The poet couldn’t write poems because the American dream is conservative and can’t make any progress. What Tim Burton is trying to say that the 1/4 acre section, the two or one kids does not suit every American. And some more interesting symbolism is the church at the end of the street. I believe this represents death. Because once you come to the American dream, the only thing left to do is die.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:41 am
If somebody can to write about a big fish in a small pond means
please and some ejs.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I felt that the giant that came into town when he was 18 was his alcoholism. A metaphor that doesn’t seem to have been noticed by many people.
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Brenda, what the heck are you talking about??? The only time I ever saw Edward drink alcohol, was at his son’s wedding. He had a glass of champagne. What the heck have YOU been drinking???
January 15th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
in trying to find an analysis for this movie, this is the best site that i have discovered for the movie big fish. though i feel that Maya’s input is most valuable to me, other comments state good points as well. I do plan on creating analysis for the movie myself, but for myself to do that i had to know other people’s input. Maya M, if you do get this, email me, because i’m very interested in what you have to say. Big Fish is my favorite movie. Every shot, every angle in this movie, all dialogue has a meaning, in which i am trying to figure out-the movie is worth seeing 13 times at least to fully understand
February 9th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Why did Edward Bloom leave Ashland.
Can any1 plz tell?
February 9th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
me
February 9th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
anybody there!!!
February 9th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Would any plz tell me why did Edward Bloom leave Ashland?
February 19th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
What underlying messages and meanings you guys think are hidden in this movie?
February 29th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
The word Spectre means- aparation, so this leads me to believe that spectre is intended to represent America’s delusional idea of a perfect society. With this delusions comes a sense of security, stability in which inhibits us to gain insight because of having to let go of our sense of security to overcome our fears. when edward bloom’s shoes are thrown over the wire it represents him being caught. That is why when he was told he is quiet a catch Edward left Specte, he was not ready to settle and chose enlightenment over stability. I think we all get overwhelmed by life sometimes and go through periods where we ourselves need a sense of security even if it’s just an illusion. The lady in water represents his wife and his father the fish. Maybe that is why when his son was born he was wrestling the fish because it represents the conflict inside him self in needing to settle down for his family(being caught) and wanting to be uncatchable. Maybe that is why, “the only way to catch an uncatchable fish is to offer them a wedding ring.”
March 17th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I was asked by my teacher to write a one page analysis on Big Fish, and i have to write what the fish represents in the movie. Maybe you guys can help me out because to me the fish represents a man. In the movie Edward Bloom says that the day his son was born was the day he caught the fish. It can also be said that a man doesn’t become a man until he sees’ his first born. I’m not sure if i’m presenting a good argument, but that’s all i can think of as to what the fish represents.
March 18th, 2008 at 5:42 am
What significance did Spectre have in the movie
March 29th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I need some examples for my homework,, can someone pls. tell me some? tnx.
April 1st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I think the fish represented a couple of different things in the movie. The first time we see the fish, in the retelling of Edward Blooms life, it is in the form of the lady in the water. I believe when he saw this in spectre it was a sign for him that he was not where he needs to be and not where he will find his true love and possibly subliminally saying that Jenny wasn’t her. I believe aja’s opinion that the actual fish represented him when she says “Maybe that is why when his son was born he was wrestling the fish because it represents the conflict inside him self in needing to settle down for his family.” His character was always a “big fish in a small pond” and had finally been caught. I think that the second time the lady in the water returns is after his son is born and he is always on the road and never around, this may symbolize his wife and one true love reminding him he is not where it is he needs to be once again. At the end when it is not the lady in the water but his wife standing in the river, I think it is confirmation that he is finally where he needs to be. I think it is one of the most beautiful scene’s of any movie I have ever seen. As well as when the wife gets in the bathtub with him…I have never seen a movie depict love in a more colorful and touching display.
April 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
On another note, Jenny comes in 3 times, as young Jenny, then older, then she is also the witch…but the witch first enters when Edward is little?!?!
April 30th, 2008 at 2:22 am
The entire key to this movie is shown in a single scene. Near the end, when the son confronts his father in bed (after his wife and mother leave the room to allow them to talk) you can see on the side table next to the radio a book. That book is “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell.