Big+Fish

media type="custom" key="24053730" =//**Discussion Questions**//=

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Questions that have been added as separate posts are: 1. Throughout __Big Fish__, Edward tells his son that stories and jokes are in many ways better than the official version of reality. William's own reaction to this statement changes: he tells us that his father's greatest power was the ability to make him laugh, but he also says he's fed up with the endless stream of jokes. By the end of the book, has William accepted, rejected or modified Edward's philosophy? 2. Edward not only wants to be a great man, he wants his son to confirm it. What are Edward's standards for greatness? How are they different from William's? Why does Edward need his son's approval, when he's already charmed people across the world? 3. Edward's final conversation with William is told in four different "takes." Presumably, something different is revealed each time. What is revealed about Edward in each version of this last conversation? What is revealed about William? 4. Mythical heroes usually undertake a quest for an object or some knowledge. What is Edward's quest? Does William have a quest? 5. In some ways, Edward's boundless energy and his drive for success make him an American archetype. In what other ways does Edward symbolize America, especially during the first half of the century? What do William's myths reveal about his reactions to that earlier, vanished America? 6. Water imagery is strong in this book: Edward keeps asking his son for a glass of water, Edward meets a mermaid on more than one occasion, and in the end Edward becomes a fish. Why does the author identify Edward and his fantastic experiences with water? How does the author use water imagery symbolically? 7. How do the tales of Edward Bloom's life change once he has a son? What is Edward's reaction to fatherhood? Is he diminished by it? Fulfilled by it? 8. The last legendary tale, "In Which He Buys a Town," is different from the other myths, especially the ones at the start of the novel. The stories have lost a certain fantastic element, and Edward doesn't seem nearly as heroic. In what other ways is the last story different from earlier tales? What has happened during the course of the novel to create this new, slightly more real, atmosphere? 9. At the end of the last death scene, the novel once again becomes fantastic. Why does the author return to fantasy? What realization or perception does the book leave you with? How would a strictly realistic ending have been different - and how would it have affected everything that came before it? 10. Think about how you relate to your parents and/or your children, and how they see you. What are the similarities to Edward and William? the differences?

//Thank you to Penguin Readers Guides for most of these questions.//