Symbol & Figurative Language
What a Symbol Is
A symbol is defined as something that represents something else.
The relationship between a symbol and what it represents can vary:
Sometimes, a symbol closely resembles or relates to what it represents (e.g., a fire alarm symbol).
Often, the association can be arbitrary or subtle.
How Symbols Are Understood
Common Usage and Recognition:
Through common usage, many symbols are instantly understood by almost everyone within a particular group.
Example: The letters of the English alphabet are symbols representing different sounds; we learn to recognize them without necessarily thinking about physical resemblance.
Example: In other languages, one character may stand for an object or concept, such as Chinese characters for “fire.”
Symbols Resembling Their Referents:
Some symbols aid understanding by resembling what they stand for (e.g., the symbol for a fire alarm).
Abstractions can also be represented by symbols that resemble associated concepts.
Varied Meanings and Associations of Symbols
Symbols with Multiple or Context-Dependent Meanings:
The smiley face can mean “Smile!” or, as an emoticon, convey meanings ranging from “I like this” to “Just joking.”
The skull and crossbones symbol is used on warning labels for poison but is also associated with death, cemeteries, and pirates.
Arbitrary Symbols and Reflexive Responses:
Many symbols have no literal connection to what they represent (e.g., octagons and the color red for a stop sign).
Despite their arbitrary nature, such symbols elicit an unconscious and reflexive response from us due to common understanding.
Complex and Conflicting Meanings:
The U.S. national flag is an arbitrary symbol, lacking direct resemblance to what it represents, but its “stars and stripes” signify the United States to most people.
Unlike a traffic sign, a national flag can evoke much more varied, complex, and even conflicting responses, highlighting the depth of symbolic meaning beyond practical instruction.
Literary Symbolism
Definition and Function:
A symbol in literature usually conveys an abstraction or cluster of abstractions (e.g., ideal, imperceptible, irrational) in a more concrete form.
It compares or brings together two things that are dissimilar in some ways.
Distinction from Arbitrary Symbols:
Unlike arbitrary symbols like letters or traffic signs, a literary symbol typically carries richer and more varied meanings.
Its complexity and depth are comparable to that of a flag or a religious image.
Appearance in Literary Works:
Due to its significance, a symbol in literature usually appears or is hinted at numerous times throughout a work.
Challenges in Interpretation:
Recognizing symbols in literature can be challenging for readers.
Readers may reasonably disagree about their interpretation because literary works often incorporate symbolism for which there is no single “correct” interpretation.
The complexity of literary symbolism remains even after recognizing a symbol's significance, requiring further exploration rather than a simple deciphering of hidden meanings.
Nature of a Literary Symbol:
A literary symbol can be understood as an extended figure of speech that rewards further interpretation.
For further insights on how literary symbolism works, one can refer to views from fiction writers, such as the excerpt from Flannery O’Connor’s THE NATURE AND AIM OF FICTION.
Traditional Symbols and Archetypes
Traditional Symbols:
Some symbols have been used by many people for a long time, becoming traditional symbols.
Example: A white dove is a traditional symbol of peace and love.
Example: A rose can be a symbol of godly love, romantic desire, female beauty, mortality (due to wilting), or hidden cruelty (because of thorns).
Example: The snake has traditionally symbolized evil, but its meaning can vary, as seen with Ka in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book where it represents law and order.
Archetypes:
These are literary elements (character types, plots, objects, or settings) that are so pervasive and recur across many cultures that they are considered archetypes.
Examples: The trickster, the quest, and the garden.
Common objects like fire, water, a flower, or a tree can also be considered archetypes because numerous cultures use them symbolically, often within religious or mythical systems.
Literary Symbolism Borrowing:
Literary symbolism frequently draws upon symbols and archetypes associated with traditional religious or mythical systems.
Allegory and Myth
Allegory:
A common literary form, especially in works by and for religious believers.
Can be regarded as an “extended” symbol or a series of symbols that encompasses an entire work.
In an allegory, concrete things and abstract concepts are consistently associated with each other across a narrative, maintaining at least two distinct levels of meaning.
Allegories often use names that function as labels with obvious moral implications to help readers translate correspondences.
Example: In The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), the central character is Christian, born in the City of Destruction, traveling to the Celestial City, and encountering figures like Pliable and Obstinate.
The purpose of an allegory is not to hide meanings but to allow enjoyment of an invented world where everything is especially meaningful and corresponds to a moral or “correct” plan.
Myth:
Sometimes, an entire story that is allegorical or symbolic is referred to as a myth.
Originally, myth referred to a story of communal origin that provided an explanation or religious interpretation of humanity, nature, the universe, or their interrelations.
The term myth is sometimes applied to stories associated with religions not believed in, or to literature that expresses truths transcending specific location, culture, or time.
Figures of Speech
Definition and Function:
Also known as figurative language.
Similar to symbols, they supplement or replace literal meaning, often by creating imaginative connections between ideas and senses.
Sometimes referred to as tropes (literally, “turnings”), implying they bend the usual meaning of language.
They shape our response to a work.
Contribute to the images or imagery of a story.
Origin and Nomenclature:
Many figures of speech are known by their Latin or Greek names, derived from classical Greek and Roman rhetoric (the art and science of speech and persuasion).
Importance of Understanding:
While one can enjoy figurative language in a story without identifying each figure of speech, learning basic terms and distinctions is important for:
Interpreting literature effectively.
Writing about literature using a shared and economical language.
Describing reader responses and the literary techniques that trigger them.
Key Figures of Speech:
Allegory:
An extended association, often sustained in every element (character, plot, setting, etc.) and throughout an entire work, between two levels of meaning, usually literal and abstract.
Example: In Animal Farm (1945), George Orwell uses an uprising of barnyard animals as an allegory for the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.
Allusion:
A reference, usually brief, to another text or some person or entity external to the work.
Examples: May range from a direct quotation of the Bible to the mention of a famous name.
Irony:
A meaning or outcome contrary to what is expected.
Verbal Irony: A speaker or narrator says one thing and means the reverse.
Sarcasm: When the intended meaning of verbal irony is harshly critical or mocking.
Example: If a teenager says, “I just love it when my mom lectures me,” she may well be using verbal irony.
Metaphor:
A representation of one thing as if it were something else, without a verbal signal such as “like” or “as.”
Example: When Scout, in To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), remarks that she “inched sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb County school system,” she figuratively suggests how it felt by implicitly comparing the experience to being on a treadmill.
Metonymy:
Using the name of one thing to refer to another thing associated with it.
Example: The common phrase “red tape” is a metonym for excessive paperwork and procedure that slows down an official transaction, based on the fact that such paperwork used to be tied up with red tape.
Oxymoron:
A combination of contradictory or opposite ideas, qualities, or entities.
Example: “wise fool.”
Personification (Anthropomorphism):
Attributing human qualities to objects or animals.
Example: In THE OPEN BOAT, Stephen Crane personifies the birds who “sat comfortably in groups” and looked at the men with “unblinking scrutiny.” He pushes personification to comic extreme in the shipwrecked men’s thoughts: “If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this […]$$ she is an old hen who knows not her intention.” Here, “hen” is a metaphor for a silly woman, who in turn personifies the idea of destiny or fate.
Simile:
A representation of one thing as if it were something else, with an explicit verbal signal such as “like” or “as.”
Example: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout describes a teacher who “looked and smelled like a peppermint drop” and bored students “wriggling like a bucket of Catawba worms.”
Symbol:
A person, place, object, or image that represents more than its literal meaning.
A symbol is more than a passing comparison (such as a simile); instead, its meaning usually relates to most details and themes of the work, similar to allegory.
Unlike allegory, a symbol usually associates more than two entities or ideas and may be obscure or ambiguous in its meaning.
Example: Short stories (or poems) may refer to their central symbolic figure in the title, as in Raymond Carver’s CATHEDRAL.
Synecdoche:
A form of metonymy (or name substitution) in which the part represents the whole.
Example: “a sail” refers to a ship, “wheels” to a car.
Interpreting Symbolism and Figurative Language
Guiding Principles for Interpretation:
Context is paramount: The overall story, poem, or play provides essential guidance for understanding the depth and significance of a figure of speech or symbol.
Holistic Reading: It is crucial to read the entire work before attempting to interpret individual symbols or figurative language. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of all imagery and figures of speech present.
Noting Imagery: Make a conscious effort to identify and note all instances of figurative language and imagery as you read.
Identifying Symbols as Focal Points:
A symbol often serves as a central element in a narrative, capturing the attention of one or more characters and consequently, the reader.
Its repeated appearance or specific discussion by characters suggests its deeper significance within the work.
Case Study: The Billboard in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925):
The Object: A faded billboard displaying a pair of bespectacled eyes.
Lack of Traditional Meaning: This object initially holds no pre-existing symbolic value (unlike a dove for peace).
Emergence of Symbolism: It evolves into a symbol due to:
Realism: It functions as a realistic detail of the setting, readily imaginable in a modern landscape.
Repetition and Discussion: Its significance is established through the numerous times it is mentioned and particularly how it is discussed by the narrator and various characters.
Ambiguity and Layered Meanings:
George Wilson's Interpretation: He perceives the eyes as representing divine observation, stating, “God sees everything.” This reveals his personal beliefs and state of mind.
Alternative Interpretation: Another character quickly dismisses it as “an advertisement,” forcing readers to consider the commercial, rather than divine, reality.
Complexity: The symbol remains ambiguous and multifaceted, inviting multiple interpretations that enrich the novel's themes, rather than providing a single, clear message.
Nature of Effective Symbols and Figurative Language:
They are inseparable from the narrative; their meaning is deeply embedded within the story's fabric.
They leave a profound and lasting impression, encapsulating core aspects of the story's meaning.
Developing Interpretive Skills:
Through consistent guidance and practice, the process of identifying and interpreting literary symbolism and other figurative language will become more intuitive.
It is a skill that, while initially challenging due to the subtle, ambiguous, and far-reaching nature of symbolic meanings, will eventually feel as familiar as reading individual letter symbols.
Responding to Symbolism: Guidelines for Interpretation
9.1. Identifying Potentially Symbolic Details
Learning Objective: To cultivate attentive reading practices for recognizing textual elements that may carry deeper symbolic weight.
Guideline: Read the story carefully, noting any details that seem to have exceptional significance.
Such details can include:
Names of characters or places.
Repeated actions or statements.
Recurring references to specific objects.
Peculiar or unusual places.
Allusions to other texts, historical events, or cultural phenomena.
Other figures of speech (metaphors, similes, etc.).
9.2. Analyzing Connections and Patterns
Learning Objective: To develop the ability to discern relationships and recurring motifs among identified details to reveal underlying themes.
Guideline: Using your list of possibly symbolic details, look back through the story to find the passages that feature these details.
Action: Assess if any of these passages are connected to each other in a discernible pattern.
Outcome: Determine if these interconnected details suggest particular themes within the work.
9.3. Recognizing Traditional and Invented Symbols
Learning Objective: To differentiate between symbols drawing on established cultural meaning and those uniquely created within a literary work, and to identify authorial signals for symbolic intent.
Guideline 1 (Traditional): Note any symbols or images that you recognize from mythology, religion, or any other literature, art, or popular culture.
Re-examine how the story presents such material, identifying the signals that indicate something is more than its literal self (e.g., “the fire is more than a fire,” “the tree is more than a tree,” “the ring is more than a ring”).
Guideline 2 (Invented): If the story invents its own symbol, find any words in the story that show how the characters perceive something meaningful in it.
9.4. Confirming a Literary Symbol's Nature
Learning Objective: To establish whether an identified element functions as a genuine literary symbol characterized by its extended nature, complexity, and multiple interpretations.
Guideline: Once you have identified an aspect of the story that functions as a symbol—meaning it is:
A figure of speech, trope, image, or connection between literal and nonliteral.
Extended beyond just a few sentences.
More complicated than an allegory’s straightforward one-to-one translation.
Potentially interpretable in multiple ways.
Action: Review every literal aspect of the story that relates to this confirmed symbol.
9.5. Interpreting and Writing about Symbolism with Nuance
Learning Objective: To articulate symbolic interpretations in a balanced manner, avoiding oversimplification or grandiosity, and grounding claims in the story's overall context.
Guideline 1: As you write about the symbol or symbolism in a story, carefully consider your claims about its meaning.
Guideline 2: Try not to narrow down the possible meanings of either the symbol or the story, embracing their inherent ambiguity.
Guideline 3: Simultaneously, avoid making overly grand claims for the symbol’s ability to reveal the meaning of life or universal truths without substantial textual backing.
Reinforcement: When in doubt, refer back to the story’s fundamental elements: its characterization, plot, and setting, as these provide the essential context for reasonable interpretation.
9.6. Citing Textual Evidence for Interpretations
Learning Objective: To understand the critical importance of supporting symbolic interpretations with direct, specific textual evidence to enhance credibility and clarity.
Guideline: Remember to cite specific passages that will help your reader understand the symbol’s significance.
Rationale: Your reader may be skeptical, suspecting that you are over-interpreting or miscasting meanings.
Conclusion: Providing direct textual evidence is crucial to effectively explaining your interpretation and persuading your reader that your analysis is reasonable and well-founded.