preview

'Magical Realism In The Film Big Fish'

Decent Essays

Magical realism is the idea of unordinary events happening throughout a novel or film. The events are bizarre, yet occur in a realistic setting with normal people. Magical realism is similar, yet is not to be confused with, fantasy. In fantasy the author creates their own world, whereas magical realism is based in the real world. Fantasy can include many unrealistic concepts, such as dragons, “the land of make believe” and evil witches. All these things would fit in an elaborate fantasy story just fine. However, with magical realism the illogical events are subtle and the story’s plot doesn't necessarily revolve around the magic. In a way it's like mixing reality with fiction, sort of like a dream. Many parts of a dream are realistic yet there's …show more content…

Examples of magical realism can be seen throughout the film “Big Fish”. The story concentrates around the life of Edward Bloom through the many of his stories. The film starts out with conflict between father and son over the fact that Edward always seemed to be more consumed with his stories as opposed to his son William. William returns to his father after not speaking three years when Edward starts dying of cancer. In the movie Edward Bloom embellishes events in his life that initially seem like myths, yet in the end are left to be seen as exaggerated truths with no true explanation. In the end of the film at Edward’s funeral many of the guest fit the profile of his many of the characters in Edward’s tales. Although the twins weren’t actually connected by the waist and Carl wasn’t gigantic enough to consume humans it leaves the possibility of truth. Magical realism allows magic to appear sparingly in a realistic world. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and John Cheever use magical realism to present their themes about humans in their short stories “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Country …show more content…

The story begins with a raging storm that has been ongoing for three days, the setting of the story is gloomy and grey. Marquez states, “ The world has been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ashgray thing and the sands.. had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish” (par 1). This foreshadows darkness and the possible renewal with the connection to the third day. Amongst all this havoc an angel arrives and the qualities of human evil begin to show through Pelayo and his wife Elisenda. When they’re told that he is infact an angel, they decide to keep him captive in their house. Pelayo is very aggressive in his demeanor towards the angel, “ Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with a bailiff’s club, and before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire coop” ( par 3). From the moment the couple discovered this being whom was different then they are, they ostracized him. Marquez highlights the negative response humans reflect on those who are weak and or odd. Once Pelayo and Elisenda’s child recovered it is stated, “they felt magnanimous and decided to put the angel on a raft with fresh water and provisions for three days and leave him to his fate on the high seas” (par 3). Although that would be better than captivity, it isn’t necessarily kind to leave something weak to fend for itself.

Get Access