Snake - Like the nightingale, the snake has a long history of symbolic interpretations but the most universal one is rebirth, live, death and cure - which resonates well with the Mud character mainly because of his incident with a snake bite.

“The island” - It’s possible to find a fair amount of links symbolically to the biblical paradise - a remote island (the garden of Eden), the tree with the boat (the tree of life) and Mud (a snake -> see snake interpretation above).

Fish/water - One of the most central elements in the movie is The Mississippi River - if you consider that water/fish can resemble purification (among others) it could be a symbol for Mud’s salvation when he dives into the water and disapears.

Ellis is the main character of the movie Mud.

Basic information:

The main character's name is Ellis. He is 14 years old, and is in middle school. He lives in Arkansas with his parents who are getting a divorce. They live in a working class environment.

He has brown hair, blue eyes, he’s very skinny and wears basic t-shirts and trousers.

Personality, habits, interests:

Ellis seems very calm, exploratory and brave. He has a friend called Neckbone whom he hangs out with almost every day. Ellis has got a short temper and shows aggressive behavior, and multiple times in the movie he hits other guys before even talking with them.

He works for his father, where they sell fish.

He likes to be together with his friends.

Round or flat character?

Ellis is a round character because he has more depth and plays an important part in the story.

Dynamic or static character?

Ellis is a dynamic character because we see a development in the course of the story. He goes through the process from child to adult symbolically.

Relationships with other characters:

Ellis has his best friend “Neckbone”, they have a strong relationship. The two boys spend most of their time together, clearly close. They have a safety in each other, therefore they influence each other.