American Museum of Natural History’s Reviews > The Whale / A Bright New Boise > Status Update

The Whale is not about being fat, it's using that as the focal point of the character, representing his loss of control, grief, depression, etc. While I disagree when people say that it mocks fat people, I do object to the use of obesity as a plot point, rather than being actual representation. Also, the title, "The Whale" refers to his daughter. From what I gathered, its a retelling of Moby Dick, and he's Ahab.