Finding Odysseus

I have yet to meet a person, young or old, man or women, Clown fish or shark who doesn’t love the movie Finding Nemo. It is a great tale about a father looking for his son and when I was thinking about this week’s reading and how Odysseus and Telemachus are finally reunited in Book 16. I was reminded of the moment in Finding Nemo when Marlin and Nemo finally find each other. Telemachus and Nemo are both the only children of their fathers. Both sets of father and son experiences adventures and challenges while searching for there loved one. There is also growth and change for Odysseys and Telemachus as well as Nemo and Marlin. Odysseus is able to resist stronger and harder temptations throughout his journey. Telemachus is also on a journey of manhood. He proves his self a strong fighter and loving son. Sheltered by his father, Nemo, is scared by knows he cannot give up his search for his father. By the end of the movie he is more confident because of the challenged he has over come. Marlin has also lost his sense of fear and the uncertainty of the wide ocean. He is willing to sacrifice any thing to find his son.

Marlin is an unlikely hero; he is nervous, shy and shelter. He is over protective of his only son and tries to prevent him from even going off to school. He warns his son of the dangers that are out there. So Marlin’s worst fears become a reality when divers abduct Nemo. He is not willing to lose his son and sets out on an epic journey. Along the way he receives help from an unlikely character named Dory. She is funny and loving but also suffers from short-term memory loss and a ditsy personal. Dory reminds me of Athena. Athena has the power as a god to control and manipulate. She is smart and cunning. Yet dory proves to be a great friend and exactly the fish that Marlin needs because she can read. Together they defeat sharks, Jelly Fish, seagulls as well as meet a 150-year-old sea turtle as well as ride on a huge current in the ocean.

I also found the interesting fact that the Latin word for Nemo means no-body or no one. This is so important because we learned that in the originally Greek form of the Odyssey, Athena and Odysseus were described as Métis, which means intrigue or intelligences. But the word Me-tis means nobody.

The theme of hospitality is also in finding Nemo, when Nemo is stuck in a fish take in a dentist office with a variety of other fishes. They are welcoming to the new fish and Nemo eventually helps them escape from the evil little girl who bangs on the tank. They also meet a pelican that saves Marlin and Dory from the seagulls. Marlin and Dory wake up on the back of a sea turtle that saved them from the jellyfish. The turtles are kind and welcoming to Marlin and Dory. The sea turtle Crush gives Marlin an important piece of advise about being a father when the little turtle falls off the current. Marlin wants to save the little turtle but the turtle father tells him that the baby turtle should try on his own. He also gives him advice about letting your children be independent. Marlin then tells all the little turtle his tale of how he lost his son just as I imaged Odysseus telling his tale to his son, wife or father. 

I chose this clip of the movie because it shows the length to which Marlin is willing to go to find his son, just as Odysseus is willing to go to any length to return home to his family. The Turtle also gives Marlin valuable advice and Marlin shares his epic tale with the young turtles. In the end just like in The Odyssey, Nemo and Marlin are reunited and are able to return home together, but will be forever changed by the great adventure they had.