Big Fish: Understanding Historical Narrative

Abstract

Big Fish raises the hermeneutic question how narrative truth relates to factual truth—how “what is said happened” relates to “what really happened.” Will wants to know facts about his father’s life. His father, Edward, is dying but he never accedes to his son’s request for a factual autobiography, preferring to tell stories about the significant moments in his life and the people he encountered. Narrative truth is what Edward values, for it opens up the dimension of significance— “what an event means to the narrator.” The meaning of events narrated is dramatized in this film. Big Fish is a story about redemption and transformation. Everyone whom Edward encounters is redeemed or changed in a positive manner. Even his son, Will, is changed. Over time, he comes to see the value of story and vows to portray his father’s life the way he wanted it told. Big Fish poses hermeneutic problems on two levels. On the individual level, the conflict between narrative and factual truth arises when individuals seek to aut...