Finding Nemo, A Father's Journey

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a movie about a journey to find the people you love. In the journey they put their life on the line in order to save one of their own. Throughout the movie many different heroes become known and together they travel great distances to save Nemo. Evil figures are represented as humans and giving you the point of view of a fish. Since we are unable of normally having this point of view available think this movie intrigues many people because of the change of roles. In many movies any living figures other than humans such as fish, snakes, spiders, woolly mammoths etc. are considered evil monsters. The human race is generally considered the dominant race and therefore seen as the good guys. In Finding Nemo because of the role reversal our own human race is the ones considered as evil.

The setting of the movie is placed in the ocean. Marlin, Nemo's clown-fish father, has been raising Nemo on his own since before Nemo was born. Nemo's mother was killed in the beginning of the movie,before Nemo was born, by a barracuda trying to save all of her hundreds of unborn fish eggs. The movie then starts at the time of where Nemo is now at the age of where he will be going to school. Although Marlin, being the overprotective father that he his, allows Nemo go to school. Which did not last long. Marlin then learns that for class the 'kids' are going to the dreaded Drop-Off ( the endpoint of the coral reef). Marlin's inappropriate behavior makes Nemo frustrated and therefore leading Nemo to swim off the Drop-Off. With their unfortunate luck, humans emerge and take Nemo away. For the rest of the movie Marlin experiences the difficult journey throughout the ocean in order to find his son. Many friends are made in the process of this expedition including Dory, Crush, Squirt, the 12-step Sharks (Bruce, Chum & Anchor). Although Nemo is held in captivity in the frightening dentist office he also meets friends in his fish tank. Gill, Peach, Bloat, Gurgle, Deb, Bubbles, and Jacques these characters are the various fish also living in the fish tank located in the Dentist Office.

Many connections are being made from Greek mythology to the movie Finding Nemo. I feel the three main characters Nemo, Marlin and Dory have the biggest impact.



Nemo:

Nemo is your typical teenager pushing the limits, wanting to escape that tight grip of all our parents hold on to us. The only difference is that he happens to be a clown-fish. The colors of Nemo's body is orange and white. Orange represents egoism which Nemo has a lot of. He wants nothing other than to go off with his friends and grow up, not listening to his father because he feels his is big enough to make his own decisions. He doesn't need anyone because he thinks he has reached the age of independence. White represents innocence and goodness. Although he chooses to ignore his fathers wishes over and over again he is a good kid at heart. If i were to label Nemo as a specific character Archetype i think he would fall under the category of the Damsel in Distress. Although Nemo is quite clearly a male fish he was taken away and is in need of rescue which his father is struggling to do throughout the film.



Marlin:

Finding Nemo is a story of the love a father has for his son, and how he would do anything in order to keep his son from harm. Marlin is Nemo's father and endures the difficult journey from their home at the coral reef, across the ocean to a dentists office. Most of the time being freaked out of his mind, he is a very worried man and with Nemo taken away it does not help with his already on edge nerves. Although Marlin's body colors are the same at Nemo's i feel that his represent something different. In Marlin's case his orange represents ambition. He has this feeling of invincibility in order to save his son at any cost. The white shows his morality and purity and peace. He has such a good spirit and does nothing other than to try to keep his son safe. Quite simply Marlin is the main hero, enduring the rough and incredibly difficult journey in order to find his son.



Dory:

Dory has a tendency to be a little forgetful but Marlin is very grateful of her assistance in the journey to find his son Nemo. She is definitely the comic relief in the movie being goofy and getting her and Marlin into a lot of sticky situations. She is colored blue and yellow. Blue showing her innocence and physically soothing. Dory has a very relaxed personality and nothing much bugs her because i think she 1. doesn't let it bug her 2. doesn't realize the severity of some of the things going on in her life at times. Dory is just an innocent bystander for most situations and sometimes seems to attract trouble. Yellow also shows her innocence and caring soul. Dory would be a Friendly Beast as a Character Archetype. She assists Marlin in his journey although not always making his trip any easier she is good company.