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Edward Bloom was an extraordinary man. When he was young, he could outrun anyone. He saved lives and tamed giants. He knew more jokes than any man alive. Or at least this is how he seemed when he told the tall-tales of his life. Now, on his deathbed Edward’s son, William, desperately wants to know the truth about the father he barely knows. Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace, shows that all stories – even extreme exaggerations – have roots in reality.

The true character of Edward Bloom is never revealed in detail. The only things we learn about him are given in his stories which are mostly fabrications of his own imagination. However, behind every lie is a little truth. We can determine key aspects of his personality through the general overview of his stories. We can tell that he is selfless and charismatic when he confronts the giant and persuaded him to leave the town. We can tell he is immature or greedy by the way he bought a whole town simply so no one else could have it.

The day of Edward’s birth sets the impression of the rest of his life. He is born during the driest summer of the last forty years – so dry his father drinks his own sweat. When his mother goes into labor, a cloud forms in the sky. All the people of the town gather together in a field to watch the cloud leaving Edward’s mother to give birth alone. As the labor of his birth intensifies the size of the cloud increases until a massive storm cloud fills the sky. Finally when he is born it begins to rain. Edward’s birth brought change to the world giving him an almost Christ-like characteristic.

At the beginning of the story of Edward Bloom’s life, Edward is faced with the challenge of confronting a giant that has been eating families’ dogs and farmer’s crops. He...

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...e and land to Edward Bloom because she believed that he did not care about anyone in the town, but just wanted it all for himself. Even though Jenny proved to be an obstacle, Edward – being the person he is – found a way around this obstacle. Soon afterward, Edward and Jenny fall in love. The story of Edward and his fascination with Spetre shows that Edward is selfish and his love affair with Jenny shows that he is unfaithful. Even more importantly, this phase of Edward's life shows that he is human and capable of making mistakes contrary to the god-like way people view him.

Edward tells his bizarre stories to make his imperfect world seems more impressive. He creates his fantasies and reshapes his reality to right his wrongs. In this sense, Edward could be considered a tragic hero. His fatal flaw being his failure to connect to the people and world around him.