Big Fish, Little Fish by Italo Calvino

1. Big Fish, Little Fishby Italo Calvino Prativa, Sarina and Chloe And Angelique

2. Summary Zeffirino goes fishing while his father collects clams. He comes across a crying woman (named Signorina De Magistris) and decides to catch different kinds of fishes to cheer her up. She explains how her love affair had broken her heart. Later, Zeffirino brings her different kinds of fish to attempt to stop her crying. While Zeffirino fishes, she gazes at the fish and realises the importance of love.

3. Personal Reflection • Zeffirino and Signorina De Magistris give us the meaning of love and the betrayal it causes. Through all the wonderful memories, there comes a time when affections would be forgotten and will only be left as scars or wounds. But when we linger on lost love for too long, it will only break us apart.

4. Views and Values • “Big Fish, Little Fish” by Italo Calvino is a unique story that has depth and a perspective about love. The woman Signorina De Magistris, realises the way around love through the creatures of the sea that Zeffirino shows her. • Zeffirino values success and amusement. Once he’s found a goal, he doesn’t want to stop until he reaches it. He shows this when finding a colony of octopi while he’s searching for fish for De Magistris and not one to ‘renounce a family of octopuses already discovered’. To cheer De Magistris up, he seeks to find something to amuse her, and since finding and hunting fish amuse him he believes it will for her as well.

5. Views and Values – Example #1 (p.66) • “And in the gap between these fins the signorina saw a deep narrow wound that had been there before the harpoons. A seagulls beak must have bitten into the fishes back so sharply she could not understand why it had not been killed. Who knows how long the perch had taken this agony about with it?” • This quote allows us to understand that Signorina De Magistris’ awareness of the pain and the injury of the fish are no different to her own pain and injury of love

6. Views and Values – Example #2 (p.69) • “Zeffirino, who has just that second managed to dislodge a cuttlefish, put his head out of the water and saw the fat woman with one of the octopus’s tentacles reaching from her arm to take her by the throat.” • “Up rushed a man armed a knife and began slashing blows down on the octopus’s eye; he cut off it’s head almost clean. • “When she came to herself she found the octopus cut in pieces” • The octopus holds her down against her will. This is an interpretation of love holding you down and if you don’t let go, love will eventually will give you “slashing blows” and leave you “cut in pieces”

7. Context • The author may have experienced his own scars of love in the past, just like Signorina De Magistris, and must feel deeply about it. He thinks about the ways of love and how fragile it really is – and the effects it can have on people.

8. Literary Techniques • Throughout ‘Big Fish, Little Fish’ many literary techniques are presented for the reader to analyse and interpret such as; • Similes, alliteration, connotation, imagery, symbolism, characterisation, personification

9. Overall Interpretation • Our overall interpretation of Big Fish, Little Fish draws us back to the author and his personal life. We feel that somehow, this story connects to him and his past life. The many different kinds of fish Zeffirino hands Signorina De Magistris could symbolise the ‘Plenty of fish in the sea’ saying. • This story demonstrates how things that may cheer you up, will not cheer others up depending on their situation and yours.