I really liked this chapter. It was nice to finally hear an "authority" tell me that not every symbol has to mean the same thing to every reader. I think I am more like those of you who want someone to tell me exactly what the symbol stands for, but it is nice to realize that I can figure it out for myself and get it right--even if it's only right for me.
I agree with him that there are things that have a certain meaning--The Road Not Taken is always going to symbolize a choice we did not make--but that choice is different for everyone.
So what do you think about symbols? Are you one of those readers who sees symbolization in everything? Do you have difficulty identifying symbols? What books, stories, or poems can you think of with a symbol? What did it symbolize?
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I think symbols are very important in novels and stories. I do not see symbolization in a lot of things, it usually has to be pointed out to me. I can think of several stories with symbols. The one that comes to mind is The Chaser, which has several symbols. First, the boy looking to buy the love potion symbolizes a generation today(mainly ours) and it shows greed and neediness. The boy will do ANYTHING for affection, even if it ruins his girls life. It symbolizes how selfish we can be at times. Second, the "life-cleaner" and its extreme cost symbolizes how that once you have made a mess of your life, you cannot snap your fingers and make it right. It takes time and in the story it takes time to save up all that money. The potions bottom line symbolize that it costs nothing to ruin everything, and it costs everything to get it back.
ReplyDeleteI think symbols make most stories, they would be boring if everything was in black and white and didn't mean anything at all. I love reading a book that is full of symbolism. I am not one of those readers that always sees the symbolism. I usually see it after i have someone explain it to me. I really liked how the author said that everyone can be right in their interpretations, before I read this I thought I was terrible at interpretations because mine wasn't the same as everyone else's, now I realize that even though mine's different it can still be right. Whenever anyone talks about symbolism I can't help but think back to Mr. McElrath's english class. When we read Poe's stories I would always try so hard to find the symbolism and the next day I would await for Mr. McElrath to give his famous in depth interpretations (of course mine would be no where near what his were). That helped me notice symbolism a lot more, now I try to look for it when I am reading. "Animal Farm" is also a great book about symbolism as the author also mentioned. It symbolizes so many aspects of human nature. "The Mask of the Red Death," by Poe also has tons of symbolism. The colors of the rooms represent times of the day and different moods.
ReplyDeleteSymbolism is a big part of most books I read, even though I do not realize until I've read the book all the way through. The one strongest symbolism I've read that comes to mind is within Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice. I realized this just as the main character Aly does. The young half black child known as Lady Saraiyu is the fabled Promised One to their people in the prophecy that has been around for hundreds of years. She symbolizes an entire people's freedom. That is, to me, an extremely power symbolism that always gives me chills to read.
ReplyDeleteI see symbols in almost everything I read. I think that if you look hard enough and think about it, there is not a story without symbolism in existence. Symbolism is that part of reading that you do yourself at your own pace, in your own mind, not anyone elses. Just like he said, the symbols in a story do not have to symbolise the same thing to everyone, it just depends on how the individual thinks. A real easy work that comes to mind with obvious symbolism is the EYE in Edgar Allen Poe's works. In almost every story there is an eye involved, either directly with the story or indirectly. I think the eye symbolizes no matter what, there is always someone watching, from God, to some random person not seen, to a cat or a bird. No matter what, someone or something always knows. I have no trouble with finding symbol's and I think sometimes I over symbolize if thats even possible.
ReplyDeleteI think that symbols are written for a reason. I can't typically point out a symbol, unless it has a point blank meaning. Most symbols that are written have a much deeper meaning, and they are difficult for me to understand. One example that I can think of is in The Story of an Hour, when Mrs. Mallard begins to say that she is free from the burden of her husband. She describes being in an open place, blue skies, and spring time. All of these symbolize freedom.
ReplyDeleteI usually have trouble picking out symbols in books. Once they are pointed out to me, I understand them, but I have trouble picking them out myself. I think that symbols are very important in literature. They make the story a lot more interesting. Like Kelsey said, when I started reading this chapter I automatically thought of Mr. McElrath's class last year when we read Edgar Allen Poe. After we read each story, Mr. McElrath would tell us all of the symbolism within the story. The book I always hear people mention when talking about symbolism is Animal Farm. I have read the book and there are tons of symbols throughout it.
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ReplyDeleteI like that their are symbols in some novels but i do not like it due to the fact that sometimes the symbolization is very hard to interpret. I do have a hard time trying to figure out all of the symbols due to the fact that sometimes it seems to me like the symbols have nothing to do with what i actually thought they meant. I can not think of any books off the top of my head that have symbolism in them that I can remember off the top of my head. But it seems to me like sometime it symbolizes something that the character or author are comfortable with and something they are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI really like symbolism being used in literature because it makes you thing more and work harder to interpret the story. I have some difficulty interpreting symbols in stories. I usually wait until i am done reading the story then go back and think about all the symbols and try to figure out what they mean. A book that has symbolism in it is Animal Farm. In this story the pigs represent Joseph Stalin, and communism, while the rest of the animals represent the people of the USSR. Every animal represents something and the story shows a great deal of symbolism.
ReplyDeleteFor me i dont see symbols all that often. Mos of the time I infer my own meaning of what the author is saying and i read that work like it's it's own piece instead of alluding to something else. Yea there are times when the authors whole story is alluded to a bigger picture and i can see that but the subtle things and at time the not so subtle things i dont pick out because my mind doesnt really connect works to others it just leaves the writing it's own individuality.
ReplyDeleteI think that symbols are great, they make things deep and interesting. I guess I'm kind of in between, meaning I see some symbols, and there are a lot that I don't see. When you read a novel and you can tell there is a lot of symbolism in it, it tells you that the author really spent a lot of time thinking about what they wanted to portray. When I think of symbols, I think of the Bible. God sending Jesus to die on the cross for us was a HUGE symbol. It was a symbol of how much God loves us. The story of Noah and the Ark has another huge symbol, the rainbow. It was a sign from God saying that he would never flood the earth again.
ReplyDeleteI think symbols make you think about what you are reading. I hardly catch on symbols escpecially in class when we read stories I am usually the one who is like "I didn't even think of that". So for me I usually can never pick up on them. In the Chronicles of Narnia the lion is supposed to symbolize Jesus and basicly the whole book is based on the bible. I really liked what the author said though about how not every symbol means the same thing to everybody. I totally related to that comment!
ReplyDeleteI think symbols make reading more interesting but I rarely catch on to symbols unless they are very obvious or somebody points them out to me. I hardly ever catch onto character's names being symbolic. In Animal Farm the whole story is related to the Russian communism but I would have never known that unless we haven't had a class discussion about it.
ReplyDeleteSymbolization shows up in a lot of novels. Sometimes authors make it obvious, but not always. Just as I don’t always notice the measure of symbolization in some stories. In others, I might assume something is being symbolic, when really there is nothing being symbolized at all. I honestly think symbolization depends on the reader. The book that I’m going to say that has somewhat of some symbolization, at least to me, is The Great Gatsby. I’ll go with something simple in this story, which is the green light that appears across the bay. The green light appears to always be a symbolization to go for something. And come to find out, the green light was located at Daisy’s. So, it’s almost as if this symbolizes for him to “go for” Daisy, in a way.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter really opened my eyes to symbolism. I always thought that each book had symbolism but it was a certain thing. For example in class when we do our diction worksheets or even our poetry responses i think that there is a right and wrong answer. So i write my own but i always wait to hear what the correct answer would be. I agree completely with cassie that some authors make it extremely obvious but others not so much. I am not good at noticing things at all, it could be right in front of me and i wouldn't even know it.
ReplyDeleteBefore this chapter i thought that symbolism would mean the same to everybody but now i realize that people lead very different lives and that the symbols could be interpreted differently and still be right to that person. I usually don't notice symbols but on the few i get it makes the story seem like its telling me secret messages. in the short story the chaser the costs of the two products mean that it doesnt takemuch to screw up your life but its extremely difficult trying to fix it after you have messed it up.
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