Theme Of Love In Big Fish

The definition of love is a strong feeling of affection but going beyond words, it is so much deeper than a simple affection towards another. Love is the indescribable feeling of pure joy when one is with a person. Love is knowing that one would risk one’s own life to keep a person well. In the novel Big Fish by Daniel Wallace the reader must ask the question: “Does Edward love his son?” The answer to this seemingly simple question is debatable, especially due to the fact that some kinds of love are different than others. Edward does in fact love his son from doing what he can to make William a great man at the beginning of Williams life, to always returning to his son in the middle of William’s childhood, to spending the last hour of his life as a man with his own son at the end of William’s childhood. In the beginning of William’s life, Edward was ecstatic. He loved his son so much that he was already planning on having William grow up into a great man. On page 122, Wallace says “He made a list of the virtues he possessed and wanted to pass on to me: perseverance; ambition; personality; optimism; strength; intelligence; imagination.” Edward took …show more content…
He was constantly traveling and working. At this time, he wasn’t being a very good father but he still loved William because he always came back and did something amazing. If Edward hadn’t loved William, he would have just stayed away traveling, especially when he found a house in Spector. On page 130, Wallace says “He made cameo and yet heroic appearances in my own life, saving my life when he could, urging me toward my manhood. And yet he was called away by forces greater even than himself; he was, as he said, riding the tiger.” This means that Edward always just popped back into William’s life to do something great before he was pulled into the riptide of his work. But he still managed to swim out of this riptide to see his son no matter how hard it