Symbolism
Focus of Symbols
Symbols are images that have meaning beyond themselves. In a short story, a symbol is a detail, a character, or an incident that has meaning beyond its
literal role in the narrative. When a flower, the moon, or a
fountain is used as a symbol, it comes to mean more than
the bloom of a plant, a source of light at night, or a device
that recycles water. It is pregnant with a larger significance;
it means something beyond itself. The moon for instance
may stand for change, uncertainty, lack of continuity. Or the
pale moon may stand for the ‘night’ side of our existence,
for the hidden part of our character that shuns daylight.
Symbolic language gives expression to the art
of thinking in images. A symbol is an image that is not
presented for its own sake. Imaginative literature involves us in sensory, sensuous experience that
often seems richer than what our blunted senses take in from day to day. As we read, the mind’s eye
takes in images -vividly imagine details, shapes, textures. But often we sense that there is more there
than meets the eye. Something tells us: “The sun in this story is not just a physical fact. It becomes
overpowering, threatening. It leaves the landscape parched; it dries up sources of life-giving water. It
means something -it tells us something, if only we knew how
to read between the lines.”
When we reach the climatic incidents in Bowen’s “Tears
Idle Tears” we can read them on a literal level: the boys meets a
girl in the park and he watches a duck move into the pond. He
finally stops crying. However, as we watch how the boy interacts with the girl on the bench and how he attempts to capture
the duck before it enters the pond, we already sense that this is
no routine incident for the boy. It’s not just another day in the
life of Frederick. This is the first time that he is able to talk to
a woman on
equal grounds and to stand up for himself. When we
think about the girl we begin to realize how different
she is from Frederick’s mother. Both Frederick and
the girl appear to be rebelling against what seems to
Frederick’s idle tears. The girl becomes a symbol on
many levels helping Frederick to break away from his
mother’s domination and tyranny. As Frederick breaks
away he sees the duck once again floating freely on the
lake, its head erect. The duck becomes a symbol of
Frederick’s release from shame and guilt. He is now
able to stand up for himself (it is only the duck that he
remember years later). When his mother returns, she focuses on the swan (another symbol in the ugly
duckling story).
Symbols are concrete and tangible first. The literal-minded reader therefore may see only their
physical surface. Not all readers may sense a larger symbolic significance, and different readers may
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read the same symbol differently. However, to respond fully to a story, the reader must become sensitive to possible symbolic overtones and implications.
The Language of Symbols
Much of what imaginative literature tells the reader it does not say in so many words. Although
symbols in fiction come to you through the medium of language, they are in a way a nonverbal language.
Like the gestures of the actor, or the drumbeats of a symphony, they do not put verbal labels on what
they communicate. The reader has to decode, interpret, put into words what the images seem to tell
him. Responding to symbols is a way of reading between the lines.
A literary symbol is something which means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a
situation, an action, or some other item, which has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other meanings as well. For example, most names are simple labels. Seldom does a name tell
anything about the person to whom it is attached. In a story, however, the author may choose names for
his characters which serve not only to label them but also to suggest something about them. A character named Mr. Black may come to represent something dark or evil while Miss White might represent
the virtues of the virgin. Symbolic use of object and actions is also important. Creatures also assume
representative significance.
As one interprets the language of symbols, he should keep the following in mind:
•some symbols come into a story from a shared language of symbols
(Much in human experience has traditional symbolic associations: the dawn with
hope, the dark forest with evil, clay with death, water with fertility. Light is often
the symbol for knowledge, for enlightenment.)
•some symbols have a special personal meaning for the writer and their meaning
may come into focus as they return again and again in the writer’s words
literary symbols are rich in associations; but they do not merely signal one short
message (The skull and bones that say poison have a clear message -danger.
Literary symbols do not just say “danger”. One of the oldest symbols in Western
literature is the garden. It brings with it a wealth of associations: the Garden of
Eden with its innocence and happiness before the fall -a symbol of nature
fruitful and life-sustaining. It also might suggest the oasis in the desert or a retreat
from the intrigues of daily life, business, or politics -we retreat there to create
our own garden. But it can represent a place of combat where one struggles
against weeds and pests.
•symbols acquire their full meaning in the context of the story (Remember the
nature of the duck in Tears, Idle Tears and the ugly duckling story.)
•to be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its
literal meaning; a symbol is something more than the representative of a class or
type
•symbols may be ambiguous (The whale in Moby Dick appears to represent
both good and bad -to the captain it represents everything that is destructive; but
for some it represents everything that is serene and beautiful in nature.)
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The Central Symbol
Often a central symbol becomes the focal point of a story. A central symbol focuses the reader’s
attention. It provides a tangible object for the reader’s emotions -since many of us find it hard to anchor
our feelings to disembodied ideas. Rather than reinforcing and adding to the meaning of the story, a
central symbol carries the meaning. A central symbol becomes the hub for meaning and associations. It
may slowly evolve, acquiring full meaning as the story as a whole takes shape. In “A Japanese Quince”
the rich central symbol of the tree with the blackbird in it helps give shape to the story as a whole.
Watch how its appearance slowly changes and shifts evolving as the central symbol in the story.
Decoding Symbols
Here is what you should look for when focusing on the role of symbolism in a story:
•explore the full range of possible associations of a symbol ( a snake may symbolize
danger but it may also symbolize guileness or alienation)
•trace the full meaning of a gradually evolving central symbol (the rocking horse)
•look for secondary symbols that echo the major theme of the story (the train in Paul’s Case)
•look for contrasts or polarities (the two women in Tears, Idle Tears)
•relate key terms specifically to the story
•look for the personal connection
Classification of Symbols
There are two basic types of symbols we encounter:
1. Arbitrary Symbols (those we use in everyday life and include such things
as the Canadian National Anthem, the Canadian flag, hand gestures)
2. Literary Symbols (those used in literature)
a. Universal Symbols (defined by K. Jung as part of our collective unconscious
and that we use all the time) -the wolf, the jungle, etc.
b. Defined Symbols specific to be a piece of literature (pre-selected by the
writer and given meaning within the context of the story)
-the rocking horse, the Japanese quinze, the swan, the bull
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