Please post your individual responses here--you should respond to one of the flowing questions:
1.) What is one of the central themes of the story, and how does it apply to another piece of work we have studied this year? You should reference at least one other text we have studied?
2.) By watching this movie what has 'bloomed' for you? You should reference something you have learned about one of the literary terms we have studied, one theme, and include one personal lesson you will carry with you.
3.) How does the film teach us about the importance of story telling--what are the purposes of stories, how does stories make people and events immortal, and what do they tell us about our own relationships? You should reference specific moments from the film but also include other thoughts you have about this question that has run through so many of the conversations, and stories, we have shared this year in English class.
Some more specific guidelines about these responses:
-you should include a reference to at least one aphorism, symbol, and theme. You should make reference to at least two characters and motifs. Please feel free to use the character profiles, theme explanations, and motif responses you have completed as groups.
-your responses can contain I, and they should be personal reflections/thoughts. However, I would encourage you to make sure that they adhere to the guidelines. Simply, you have to play within the rules, but you also have the chance to be creative.
-they should be a minimum of five-hundred words
-they should adhere to the rules of good writing. Really make sure that every sentence is clear and direct, but more to the point on this personal assignment really work on infusing your prose with depth of thought and sophistication of expression.
Due:
These responses are due Monday at the start of the class--with that being said, I would highly encourage you to start working on them soon because you will have reading over the weekend.
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Chase Rosa
4-4-10
Purpose of stories
In the film Big Fish, the importance of storytelling is undoubtedly showcased. The main character Edward Bloom tells the story of his entertaining and somewhat incomprehensible past. He retells his stories everyday so that he will be remembered. His son William does not believe in the stories. He thinks his father has lied to him about his past throughout his childhood. Now they almost never talk because William just will think he will tell another lie. Conflicts can make up history. The story of the conflict between Edward and William is parallel to just about every other quarrel chronicled. Stories as well can help you not make the same mistake twice because the information is passed on.
Edward Blooms retelling of his stories makes him immortal because of their exciting and influential elements. People love it when Edward Bloom tells his stories. They find it so interesting because of how dissimilar it is to theirs. That’s what makes them memorable. It isn’t everyday that someone meets a giant, or goes on life or death missions in Vietnam. Sometimes the aftermath can make something or someone immortal. If it has a lasting impact, it will be remembered. The Ashton key in the film does a great job of representing immortality. The key was always with him during the film. At one part when Edward was driving through the worst thunderstorm of his life, Edward thought he had lost the key but the key survived, and so did he.
The purposes of stories are so that people can learn from their mistakes and be ready for the future. The purpose of a story is to share history. History is the interpretation of the past. If there was to be no stories told, there would be no method to interpret. History would mean nothing. Stories can act as gateways into knowledge as well. People can utilize a story’s information and transform it into new intelligence. Einstein applied this ability quite well. He was able to grasp Isaac Newton’s theories and expand it to other areas. Edward Bloom harnessed the witches’ story of his death and used that information to his advantage. Now he is more prepared and confident of the road ahead.
William and his father’s relationship are flawed because William can not accept that Edwards’s stories are truthful. The basis for being in a trustworthy relationship is the acceptance of ones past. If you are unable to accept someone for there past how are you going to able to move forward with them? William decides to than acquire some background information about the real story of his father’s past. He goes rummaging through Edwards office and finds something peculiar. He found the Deeds of Trust that Edward used to buy the town of Spectre. He sees that he renovated just one house on Spectre. Will decides to than meet the owner to see if she can tell him some truth about his father. Astonishingly, her stories match up with Edward’s. The Deeds of Trust has guided William to Trust in his father.
The conflicts between Edward and death are now over. He can now become that Big Fish that he always was without the troubles of human civilization. The rod of life has been broken. Now, he can swim away with the bait that is love. Love in his life and family. The narrative is now over. Now it is time for the memory to take over the story and for generations to pass it on. So, I guess the pure truth of a story is discovered through the imagination of an individual.
I think the theme of Big Fish is the idea of eternal life. Stories are meant to be told multiple times. A story that is told once dies immediately. Edward tells his stories over and over to keep them alive. Although this may annoy him, William remembers these stories more and more. He constantly makes remarks like “You’ve told that one a hundred times,” and “I’ve heard that one before,” which means that he remembers the stories. The repetition implants them in his memory forever. Never to be forgotten. The more memorable a story is, the more connected the audience feels towards the story teller. For example, This Boy’s Life was a very memorable book for me. The reason it was memorable is the way it gripped my attention. The stories that Tobias Wolff told in his memoir were sometimes questionable. For example, when he cut of his finger. This part of the story helped highlight how truly horrible a man Dwight, Toby’s step father, was. Wolff may have added this detail to his life’s story with the help of his literary license. He even admits to adding some details in his introduction by saying, “I’ve allowed some of these points to stand, because this is a book of memory, and memory has its own story to tell. But I have done my best to make it tell a truthful story.” Edward tries to tell a truthful story, not ‘the truth’. By telling a truthful story he is able to infuse more lessons and morals into the story. These added details teach us more about ourselves than a true story ever could. I felt much more connected to Wolff’s memoir because of these added details. I could relate myself more and saw truth about my life and my actions. Therefore, I remembered the book much more than I would have. This connection and ultimate remembrance is all Edward is seeking with his stories. When someone dies, people go to the funeral. There is mourning and a degree of remembrance, however, as time passes, the connection the friends and associates feel towards the deceased ultimately weakens. It weakens until it is camouflaged so deeply that it is unnoticeable. Edward did not want his break in connection. Every detail of his stories further ties him to his audience. When he passes, he did not want any connection to be broken. Throughout his life, he had touched a lot of people. Edward cares about these people. He wanted deep remembrance with these people rather than recollection of scattered memories. By gaining this remembrance, he is theoretically immortal. If a story is told properly, it can become a legend. Passed down from generation to generation, legends are told over and over again. Legends are not forgotten. Edward Bloom made sure that he was not forgotten. At the end of the movie, William is shown telling the story of his father, Edward to his children. The legend of Edward Bloom would eventually be told by William’s kid to their children and so on and so forth. Forever sustained. Therefore, Edward Bloom will forever be the immortal, uncatchable, really Big Fish.
Topic 3-
In Big Fish we watched many different relationships bloom. Each had different encounters and endings. It was like one giant story based off of many smaller stories. However when I looked up the definition of the word story here is what I found…
–noun
1.
a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader; tale.
2.
a fictitious tale, shorter and less elaborate than a novel.
3.
such narratives or tales as a branch of literature: song and story.
4.
the plot or succession of incidents of a novel, poem, drama, etc.: The characterizations were good, but the story was weak.
5.
a narration of an incident or a series of events or an example of these that is or may be narrated, as an anecdote, joke, etc.
6.
a narration of the events in the life of a person or the existence of a thing, or such events as a subject for narration: the story of medicine; the story of his life.
7.
a report or account of a matter; statement or allegation: The story goes that he rejected the offer.
8.
news story.
9.
a lie or fabrication: What he said about himself turned out to be a story.
10.
Obsolete. history.
–verb (used with object)
11.
to ornament with pictured scenes, as from history or legend.
12.
Obsolete. to tell the history or story of.
As I read through each definition I realized that each applied to Big Fish. I mean it was a narration of the events of Edward Bloom’s life, and his son did believe it was just a silly fabrication. What I didn’t see in any of the definitions was that stories must always have an ending. Do they? Do they just have to come to a complete stop, good or bad, and never continue on from there? I think that the answer to that question is no. Each time a chapter in our life comes to a close, a new one begins. It like walking across the street or opening a door. Our stories only end when we want them to. Even then they don’t truly end because our memories live on through our friends and family, and maybe random people we encountered in the store or on the street. Edward Bloom told his story over and over. What if all he wanted was to just be remembered. Maybe he wanted to inspire people to aspire to be more than just a regular fish. At the end of the movie we saw his grandson telling his friends about Edwards crazy adventures. He could tell them as well as Edward, and he had never even met him. When people say parents try to live through their children, part of that may be true, but the other half may just be because they don’t want to be forgotton.They want to impact their kids lives or see themselves in their children. I enjoy hearing stories about my parents childhood. It shows a different side of them I don’t always see. It’s that scared side, the one that doesn’t have all the answers and that makes mistakes because it doesn’t have a care in the world. Sometimes these stories are used to teach lessons or to make connections with people. I mean I’m sure we’ve all had that argument with our parents. You know the one where your like, “you just don’t understand!”, and then the parents respond with, “I was young too once!”, and then comes the whole life story. Big Fish showed me that a story doesn’t necessarily have to be true to get a point across. Sometimes the only way to get people to listen is to tell a false one. Ask yourself this question, would you rather hear a true uneventful story or a exciting fabricated one? This is the same question the doctor asks William in the hospital. However Will’s answer is the true boring one. What we have to remember is that this is still a story too, and maybe it just takes the right storyteller, because that is what makes a story truly come to life. Both Edward and William Bloom were story tellers, just like anyone else who ever told a story. However we only really know our own stories because there always changing, and whether there good or bad just depends on what we make of them.
QUESTION NUMBER 3
I think that story telling is a way to make a memory or something completely fictional live forever. Stories can make people and places become immortal because they can be told from person to person and can live/be told forever. The Fish is all about how Edward Bloom tells stories of his life to his son William. William believes that his stories are not true even though some of them are. Edward tells stories to his son as if to live through the events of his life again. As Edward continues to tell his tales he may change them and add exciting twists, every story gets better with time. One story that was fictional in the movie was Edward’s story about seeing how he died in the witch’s eye. Although the story was not true there were characters in it that were from his true stories such as, Don Brice, his childhood acquaintance from Ashton Alabama, who dared Edward to go to the witch’s house in the story and Jen Hill, the eight year old girl from Spectrum, who was the witch who could tell you how you were going to die by just looking into her eye. Some of his stories were completely true though. For example, the one about how he bought Spectrum to rebuild it and make it wonderful again. I know that this story is true because William found the deed to Jen Hill’s house in his father shed. In the story Jen’s house was the last one to buy to make the town new and beautiful again, but she refused until Edward gained her trust and then she gave him the deed. Then Edward completely transformed Spectrum into the beautiful town it was before. The most important part in the movie was when William told Edward a story when he was dying. When Edward was dying he asked William to tell the story of how he died. Will told a story about how they escaped from the hospital to get to the River, and when they got to the River all of the people from Edward’s stories and from his life were there to see him off. William described them as happy; they wanted to leave Edward joyfully. William carried his father into the River where his wife was waiting for him. Edward gave her his wedding ring because he said, “the best way to caught something is by giving it a ring.” When Edward was ready William dropped him into the water and he turned into what he always was “a very big fish.” Telling a story was important in this scene because it usually was Edward who told the stories to his son, but in this moment it was William who told the story to Edward. William’s story allowed Edward to die peacefully. Edward was attached to his stories like many people are because it was his memories, what never happened and what could have been. In Edward Bloom’s stories he was the character, narrator and the writer and they became his life.
Stories play a very important role in Big Fish. Throughout the entire movie Edward and William Bloom are telling the same story, but through different perspectives. Edward believes in what he’s saying, Will, on the other hand, doesn’t have the imagination to see the real importance of the stories. Edward has complete confidence in himself. Every fictional story that Edward Bloom says, tells more about himself than any regular, boring, but truthful story would. Each true story about Will Bloom tells almost nothing about himself. However, Will cannot discover the importance of these stories without the help of his mother, Sandra, and his wife, Josephine.
The one problem with Will Bloom is that he cannot discover the true value in fictional stories. He doesn’t have the skill that we should all have. He can’t put himself in the story and actually see and believe what’s happening. Stories help us understand ourselves and each other. That is why Will cannot get along with his father. He doesn’t understand his stories. Once Edward said “I’ve been telling the truth the whole time…” It was Will who needed to believe him. In order to understand these stories he has to learn to believe that the person who is telling them is trustworthy. Josephine can help him. She is patient with both Edward and Will. She herself first discovers the true value of the stories. She sits and listens to him whenever he’s willing to tell a story. I don’t think that she just did this for her own benefit. She did it for Edward’s and Will’s. I think that Josephine was trying to unlock the part of Will that really cared about his father and once loved his stories. In the end, I believe that Josephine helped Will discover who his father really was.
What Will finally realizes, when his father is dying next to him, is that his father was always the really big fish. Throughout the entire movie, water has been a cure. It always gives Edward energy when he’s dried-out. He’s always dried out because he’s not in the river. That’s where he was always supposed to end up. The fish is the one that was always hard to catch. Edward Bloom was always traveling on the road. He was always off on a different adventure. It made it hard for his family to catch him and reel him back in. This was ultimately what made Will lose faith in him. He lost faith because he wasn’t old enough to understand the reason his father was always gone. When his father is dying, he finally realizes that all he had to do was understand Edward, and then he would believe his stories.
Stories make us immortal because even though we no longer are literally alive, our personal story keeps going as long as others are willing to tell it. These stories keep our imagination alive. Without stories we would all be boring and the same. None of us would have our own story, because no one would be willing to tell it. When Will Bloom finally realizes this he keeps his father’s story going and sends him off the right way. He helps Edward Bloom become what he always was, a really big fish. But his father’s story is also his, and he continues it, but only from a different point of view.
Question number three - -
The story of the Big Fish is a complicated one. In my opinion, it is also one of the more bizarre movies out there. When we first meet Edward Bloom he is telling the story of the big fish. He tells it to his son William, he tells it to Williams’s prom date, and he even tells it at Williams wedding. Then the last time we see Edward as himself, he is being told that story, which he calls “The story of my life.” What this is referring to is the story that Will tells him on his deathbed, of how he is going to die. But Edward is also saying that all along he has been telling the story of his life, and that is the story of the big fish. Edward makes his stories come alive by telling them to everyone he meets. In that way they are immortal, they are being passed down through the Bloom family generations. Although all of Edwards aren't completely true, all of them have some truth to them, and also they all relate to something that has happened to Edward sometime in his life.
When Edward first meets the Witch, she shows him how he is going to die. This was when she was very old, and he was a child. She shows him how he is going to die and this affects his life because he is reckless. He does whatever he wants because he knows he can’t get hurt. This is an example of when a stories purpose is used wrongly. The Witch teaches him to be ignorant and he becomes ignorant. Her showing him his death wasn’t all wrong, because without this recklessness and freedom she gave him, he would’ve never made it to Specter and never met the witch as a young child. The witch, Jenny, takes his shoes and throws them up on a wire so he can’t leave. She is already in love with Edward when she sees him as a child. She throws his shoes up on the wire because she wants him to stay with her forever. Even though there is a ten year age difference between them she still wants him to come back for her. When she next meets him they are both much older and Edward is trying to buy her house so he can fix it for her. She won’t sell it to him but he persists and fixes it anyways. He asks if she is married and she says, “I married a man who was twenty – eight and I was eighteen.” It didn’t work out between them. This relates to there relationship because they have a ten year difference and so did her husband and herself.
The movie always comes back to the motif of water. It starts out with a fish swimming in murky water, and it ends with the same clip of the fish swimming. During the story that Will is telling his father, the father turns into that big fish. On the way to the hospital he pours water on himself because he was dry. In the middle of the movie the wife walks in on him underwater in the bathtub. At first I thought that something was wrong but when she looks at him and smiles I knew that he was fine. But what he was doing was getting wet because when he got out he said, “I was dried out.” Throughout the movie they are dropping subtle hints of him being or relating to the big fish. But at the end we finally know. We learn when Will is telling the story of his life. He is and always was a really big fish.
I think that one of the themes in the movie Big Fish is that through our lives we have the decision of what truths to believe. Edward Blooms Stories are not lies, as his son says. They may be embellished and morphed into something a little more interesting but they are not lies. Edward has decided to retell theses stories of his life and by doing so he is able to relive them whenever he wants. Many people fantasize about how they wish their lives could be like, and it can be very unhealthy but for Edward these stories are not fantasies, they are the truth. This does not mean that he is crazy. Although he does tell his stories with passion he is not living in the past and is very much happy with his current life. He loves his wife and son more than anything else and would never hurt them on purpose.
At first when we were watching the movie I wondered a lot about the opinions of Edwards’s wife, Sandra. They were clearly in love with each other and happy but I still wondered if it hurt her when Edward told the stories. Although she never seemed to take it that way, I can see how his stories could easily be seen as a way of him expressing his boredom and frustration with his real life. After thinking about this a lot I realized that the answer was simple. She believed him. The stories were not Edwards dreams that he never realized, they were his accomplishment and realities and she loved to hear them. She realizes that some of Edwards tales aren’t real but I think she is ok with it because that’s just who Edward is, he enjoys telling stories.
Although his mother chose to believe the stories, William, Edward’s son does not. When he was a child he loved hearing the stories but as he got older and his dad got sick he realized that if the stories were all fake, as he believed, then he didn’t really know anything about his father. At the end of the movie when Edward dies, I think Will realizes that it’s not whether the story is true or not that matters but whether he makes it true. He understands that these stories weren’t lies made up by his father, but that they were his father, and by believing in them, he was believing in his father. Once he starts to believe, the stories and reality start to blend together and he realizes that his father was never lying. The stories are Edward and he is the stories so by not believing in them, I think Will was hurting him.
In some ways this movie reminded me of This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff. Both Toby and William wanted to know their fathers better than they did. In This Boy’s Life Toby never develops a good relationship with his dad, but has always been told facts about him. Will, in Big Fish has always been close to his dad, but feels like he doesn’t know him. I really enjoyed this movie on a literal and symbolic level. I think that it would have still been a great movie if I had just watched it at home and not searched for a deeper meaning in it but I think that by watching actively and looking for things like motifs, juxtaposition and symbols I was able to enjoy it even more.
Question #3----
Story telling gives one the ability to think broadly and understand ideas that otherwise would be hard to contemplate. It is important to have story telling because it helps the imagination develop creativity while allowing one to think realistically. During the movie the Big Fish Edward Bloom tells many tales. One story that he tells is of him seeing how he dies by looking at a witches’ eye. Putting both the worlds of fiction and non-fiction together the viewer is able to judge prematurely the meaning of this story. Although not all stories are fake, our minds try and separate fact from fiction which leaves us thinking more, especially in The Big Fish. At the end of the movie when it is Edward Blooms funeral all the characters that we already decided were fictional, arrive
Sharing stories enables us to see our reflection and others' as well when they shine the light on our past mistakes and then our progress. As our class discussed in the beginning of the year, and Connor Barrett stated, we felt that literature and stories were the window to better understanding ourselves. When I tell stories of my past, I come to understand the reason why something might not happen the way I wish, and that is solely because I need to improve what I want to see change. Our class also realized how Tobias Wolff's stories, in This Boy's Life, were the key to redeeming himself from the past that did not offer opportunities to gain an identity. The stories Toby told made him realize that his actions were only derived from needing help and not knowing any other possible way to ask for it.
Stories that are told mean the storyteller holds the key to an event, place, or person. In Big Fish, Ed was given the key to Ashton, his hometown. This key allowed him to transition seamlessly to his life in Spectre and return to his life in Ashton. Having the key to live his life in both towns and the other places as well, such as the circus, gave Ed the key to his storytelling. A key, in this case, has the ability to unlock a story to show what Edward Bloom has done and accomplished.
Water in this movie has a prominent impact on how the story is developed. Ed is given the strength for his stories to be heard when he comes in contact with water. Each of our own stories explains our life and who we are in the same fashion. The stories involving water show who Ed truly is and who he will always be. He has the key to all of his stories, which he then gives to his son, William and his beloved acquaintances to unlock, show, and then continue passing when he dies. Before Ed literally dies, his relationship with his son, Will, was negatively affected because of Ed's exaggerated stories. Will felt he did not know his true father because all of the embellishments Ed added to a story, and himself. After Ed died, Will started to understand and appreciate his father's stories again when he told the remaining story of Ed's death and turning into the very big, immortal fish.
From the moment that Ed saw Sandra Templeton, he knew that this would be the woman he would spend the rest of his life getting to know. He spent months working to receive information that Amos knew of this girl. All of the stories involving Sandra proved Ed's love and devotion towards her, and so he finally received her by putting a wedding ring on the hook. The stories of Ed's feelings towards his girl were enclosed by the ring and what the ring signified to the couple. Stories show our relationship with other's whether it be positive or negative. Stories can impact relationships as we saw with Edward and William, but then steadily increase once we the true meaning of the story.
Stories, especially in the end when something has passed, connect people of differences and similarities because of the realization of how significant it really is. The stories of past events or people make us remember what we loved about them and make us think about the remnants of their existence. Stories freeze as they are shared and passed from generation to generation, but still each new generation tries to melt the story and then explain it with their own flair. So over time, the details of stories become altered, but the main idea and theme will continue to bloom. Edward's story will continue to bloom once his son unlocks the key and melts the stories, thus making Ed himself, immortal.
-Response #3.
Big Fish is a movie where the viewer, gets to watch a circular narrative. I see it that the movie starts with Edward Bloom telling the story of how his son was born, and ends with William Bloom telling the story of how his father dies, thus completing the circle. Therefore I believe that this film is comparing storytelling to life and death. I have to say that I agree, Big Fish has put this relationship into perspective for me and hopefully others as well. After putting this comparison together you start to think about the importance of storytelling. If you tell a bland and plain story it feels like your life is missing something and is empty. But, telling an embellished story might not be all truth, but it gives people a reason to take notice and care about your life or your death. All of William Blooms life he never believed any of the outrageous stories that his father told him, and therefore he chose to refuse to believe. It takes his dying father on a hospital bed to make him realize that he needs to believe in himself, even though his father will die either way, his father just wants to know that his son finally believed that his stories were real. When William Bloom is telling his father the story of his death, he is telling him his whole life story and what a wonderful life it was. Then at Edward Blooms actual funeral, you see the characters from his crazy stories to not be that far from the truth. By telling the story of Edward Bloom, he will never be forgotten and thus becoming immortal. Big Fish is not only about stories having to do with people, but objects as well. There is the story of water and how it is cleansing and healing, and another about how doors begin and end stories. There is the story when Karl the Giant and Ed Bloom come to a fork in the road and to make things interesting, Edward takes the road less traveled while Karl takes the plain and boring route. The fish in Big Fish has much more to it than its literal meaning. This symbol that the Edward Bloom has been in the wrong body all his life, he is meant to be in the water where he belongs. There are all types of hints throughout the movie where he needs water and after getting it feels instantly better. Becoming immortal does not mean living forever; it means that you are being remembered forever in people’s thoughts and hearts even though you are physically not there. From listening to the stories of English 9 F, I have learned to always build your foundation with rocks. A strong foundation will lead to an easier life and if you work hard now, you will be able to relax for much longer later on. Some others stories from English 9 F have also become immortal for me and ones that I will never forget.
Story telling gives one the ability to think broadly and understand ideas that otherwise would be hard to contemplate. It is important to have story telling because it helps the imagination develop creativity while allowing one to think realistically. During the movie the Big Fish Edward Bloom tells many tales. One story that he tells is of him seeing how he dies by looking at a witches’ eye. Putting both the worlds of fiction and non-fiction together the viewer is able to judge prematurely the meaning of this story. Although not all stories are fake, our minds try and separate fact from fiction which leaves us thinking more, especially in The Big Fish. At the end of the movie when it is Edward Blooms funeral all the characters that we already decided were fictional arrive. Stories help us to visualize ideas that otherwise would be impossible. Once you know a story it very hard to forget the meaning and happenings of that story. For example the one story in the movie of Edward Bloom as he is ill in health
The movie Big Fish teaches us that stories are sometimes more important than truth. The difference between fact and fiction can be different for everyone. Take Edward Bloom for instance; his stories do not seem real to his son, William, but to him they are perfectly genuine. “In every lie, there is a grain of truth.” I don’t know who said this, but it is certainly applies to Big Fish. In the end of the movie, it is revealed that nearly everyone in the stories is real. The stories that Edward tells his son are obviously embellished. For example, the witch with the glass eye is clearly a sham as she is supposedly an older Jenny Hill. Edward meets the witch shortly before arriving in Spectre and meeting an eight year old Jenny Hill. For someone to be both old and young at the same time is physically impossible so Edward obviously met no witch. Some other circumstances in the stories may seem unbelievable, but they are almost all possible through some ways or means. The only other instance which I can think of is the flood which completely submerges Edward’s car. Somehow, he doesn’t drown. First of all, even the worst flash floods do not occur in that way, but also, no car is completely waterproof. None of this really matters, however. The point of the embellishments to Edward’s stories is to make them more true. As Tobias Wolff said, “memory has its own story to tell.” Edward relates to his son the stories of his youth in the way that he remembers them, or wishes that they played out. All of the stories serve to build him up into the man that he is when he dies: a storyteller. William knows his father only by his tales, and because they do not measure up to his own sense of reality, he discards them as false. When Marco Polo went on his expeditions to the Orient, he came back with fantastical tales of dragons. No one in Europe believed him, yet his stories were true. The creature he spoke of is the Chinese Alligator, which might look similar to a dragon to someone who has never seen anything like it before. Just because a story seems false because it fails to match up with your definition of reality, it may still be true. William is indoctrinated at a young age to believe that his father’s stories are nothing more than fairy tales, yet they are a true representation of Edward Bloom. When he was very young and just beginning to hear the tales, William must have believed them; after all, he wouldn’t have known any better. As he got older, it would have been revealed to him that giants and witches are completely made up; just a figment of an overactive imagination. This might have left him feeling a little betrayed by father, who let him carry on believing these things throughout his young life. After hearing the stories time after time, each version a little different from the last, William becomes fed up with listening to his father’s “lies” and severs all contact with him. The truth of the matter is; it is William who decides to listen to the lies of others rather than trust his own father.
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