Who Is The Protagonist In Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo (Finding Nemo) is a story of a clownfish named Marlin who loses his son, Nemo, following a fight over Marlin’s overprotective qualities. The story begins with Marlin and his wife, Coral, who live in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Coral and Marlin are expecting 400 offspring when a barracuda attacks them and kills Coral and 399 of their eggs. Marlin is left with one offspring who he names Nemo. As Nemo grows, Marlin becomes protective of him and on Nemo’s first day of school, he swims away from the reef and touches a boat. On his way back from the boat, he is captured by a diver and Marlin’s journey to find Nemo begins. Along his way, Marlin meets a blue tang fish named Dory who aids him in his journey to find
Nemo. They eventually do find Nemo but face many obstacles before reaching that point. Finding Nemo can be considered an epic based on Marlin’s character traits, his strength against the enemies and the fact that he has Dory as his guide.
Marlin goes through major changes as his character grows but he has a few qualities that stand out throughout the movie. Marlin begins as an optimistic character but following the death of his wife and children he emerges as a protective, paranoid and frequently pessimistic fish. He questions letting Nemo go to school at all in the beginning and we can see how scared he is to lose his only son, but this comes across as overprotective to everyone else. He is also known to be quite serious to all the other fish. This is shown well in a scene where Marlin tries to tell a joke about a mollusk and a sea cucumber but no one finds it funny (despite the irony of him being a clownfish). Marlin’s serious nature does come in handy however when we learn how determined and loyal he is to finding his son. His journey isn’t short by any means as he and Dory make their way all the way to the Sydney Harbor. Along this journey he shows us how brave he really is, which shows a contrast to his overbearing nature and his strict rules. Both he and Dory face sharks, anglerfish, jellyfish, the EAC (East Australian Current), bombs and hungry birds, all to find Nemo. All of these setbacks make Marlin emerge as the clear leader and hero of the story.
Marlin’s strength was shown throughout the movie but particularly stood out when he faced other fish that can be considered the “monsters” of the epic.
Marlin finds himself in trouble with Bruce and other sharks at the beginning of his expedition. While they are friendly at first, it becomes clear that Marlin and Dory are merely fish food for the sharks when they get in a fight that results in Dory bleeding. After smelling the blood in the water, Bruce and the other sharks begin chasing the two. After just escaping the sharks, they face the bombs of a naval mine going off. Shortly after this, they find themselves in trouble with an angler fish at the bottom of the ocean and they narrowly escape with the help of the mask that belonged to the diver who took Nemo. Additionally, they are in danger of being killed by a swarm of jellyfish. Both Dory and Marlin are stung but they are taken in by sea turtles traveling along the East Australian Current. This trip could be considered dangerous as it is likely Marlin would have avoided the EAC entirely prior to his journey. One of their final encounters with trouble happens when the two are nearly eaten by seagulls but are saved by a pelican named Nigel. Though they faced many dangers along the way, Marlin is determined to find his son and exudes admirable strength throughout the
story.
A quality that helps convey the movie as an epic is that Marlin finds Dory who becomes a guide to him. Dory, who he finds toward the start of the movie, suffers from short term memory loss and this proves to be an issue for both her and Marlin for the remainder of the story. Though eager to help find Nemo, her naive and sometimes reckless behavior irritate Marlin and get them into trouble more than once. Dory and Marlin begin to care about each other but it remains unclear as to if this is enough to keep her around when Marlin becomes irritated by having to endlessly repeat and teach Dory when he should be focused on finding Nemo. Marlin does decide to keep Dory around following an emotional scene where we learn that Dory is dependent on Marlin now that they care about each other and have grown together. One of the only saving qualities that Dory shows is her ability to read. While facing the sharks we learn that she can read when she finds the escape door that saves them. Her knowledge comes in handy again when they find the mask, worn by the diver who took Nemo, has the address written on the back of it. This helps them tremendously as they learn where they need to go to find Marlin’s son. Dory teaches Marlin how to be more outgoing and more of a fun character and she plays a vital role in finding Nemo.
Although Finding Nemo is considered a children’s movie, its’ structure is one of an epic and we can see this through Marlin’s character traits, his strength and having Dory as his guide. Marlin’s journey to find his son Nemo shows us that he is an epic hero and he has the qualities needed to be considered one. The elements examined are just a few that help make the story an epic but they show strong examples of how they play a role in the development of the movie.

Works Cited
Finding Nemo. Directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, Pixar Animation Studios, 2003.