Symbolism

I liked this small chapter on Symbolism. When you look for symbols in pictures and paintings to help you understand the meaning, you never think that these symbols exist in literature too. The poem called "Orange" is a good example. It starts with the man saying he has 2 oranges in his coat pocket and he is walking with this woman on some kind of date. She wanted some chocolate that cost a dime and all he had was a nickel, and instead, he offered the cashier one of the oranges in exchange for the other nickel owed. This was a gamble because if the cashier refuses then he looks foolish and poor in front of this girl, but if the cashier agrees then he gets her what she wants and looks cunning and persuasive. In the end he succeeds and as they walk along the streets, she eats her chocolate and he begins to eat his orange and describes it as a fire in his hands. I don't think that the orange was worth a nickel to the cashier, but it was obviously worth something to the man.

It is easy to find symbols around us everyday. America has many symbols of our freedom, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, and Mount Rushmore. There are many different types of symbols. People can also be symbols. Martin Luther King Jr. is a symbol for equality. Hitler is a symbol for racism and hate. Books also use symbols in their text. In The Christmas Carol, The old clock ringing its bell at a new hour symbolized a new Christmas ghost coming to visit Ebenezer Scrooge. At thee beginning of this class we read a story where a bell symbolized a re-do on the conversation of a man and woman in a coffee shop. There are many symbols used in our lives day to day, and Literature also uses them.