Assignment 3.4: Symbolism

3. Recognizing Symbols

Recognizing Symbols

According to Perrine and Arp in Story and Structure 8th Edition (1992), "The ability to interpret symbols is ... essential for a full understanding of literature." They go on to list four cautions when searching for symbolism in fiction:       

  1. The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically. Symbols nearly always signal their existence by emphasis, repetition, or position. In the absence of such signals, we should be reluctant to identify an item as a symbol.
    2.        
  2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story.
    3.        
  3. To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different from its literal meaning.
    4.        
  4. A symbol may have more than one meaning. It may suggest a cluster of meanings....This is not to say that it can mean anything we want it to: the area of possible meanings is always controlled by the text (pp. 197-8).