SYMBOL, ALLEGORY, AND FANTASYChapter 6

COMPRESSION

Say as much as possible as briefly as possible Not that good stories are brief Nothing is wasted, and each word is chosen for

maximum effectiveness (careful selectivity) Every element must do as much as possible (i.e.

illustrate character and advance plot) Resources to achieve compression: symbol,

allegory, and fantasy Departure from factual language to increase

emotional force and resonance of story Suggests a larger and richer meaning than

strictly realistic approach

SYMBOL Something means more than what it

suggests on the surface Object, person, situation, action, or some

other element with literal meaning on surface but represents other meanings as well

Example: name symbolism Not only to identify nationality/gender but also to

suggest something about the character Phoenix in “A Worn Path” – symbolic of

consumption by fire and rebirth from the ashes; linked to her love for her grandson

Wangero in “Everyday Use” – symbolic of changed perspective on her heritage

? What names can you think of that are symbolic?

SYMBOL

Example: setting and action (“Hills Like White Elephants” Railroad junction, a place where one can change

directions (here, the direction of their lives) Baggage with “labels on them from all the hotels

where they had spent nights” indicates their rootless, pleasure-seeking existence without responsibility

Two sides of the valley – fertility versus sterility Jig’s “white elephant” comment – regardless of if

she means something by it, the author does

SYMBOL – DON’T OVERDO IT!

Don’t try to find symbols in everything Most stories operate on the literal level with

most details Don’t pervert the meaning by discovering

nonexistent symbols “Better to miss the boat than to jump wildly

for it and drown.”

SYMBOL CAUTIONS1. The story itself must furnish a clue that a

detail is to be taken symbolically. “A Worn Path” – repetition of references to

birds, protagonist’s name, repeated journeys paired with title (journey of her race toward love and acceptance)

“Everyday Use” – quilts “Symbols nearly always signal their existence

by emphasis, repetition, or position.”

SYMBOL CAUTIONS

2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story.

Has its meaning inside the story, not outside it “A Worn Path” – meaning of “pearly cloud of

mistletoe” (and little boy offering marble cake) supported by and dependent on its relation to other references in the story establishing the correlations between black and white and the dreams that Phoenix harbors; here, associated as it is with a proffered gift of delight from on high, the symbol reinforces Phoenix’s faith and reliance on God’s will

SYMBOL CAUTIONS

3. 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.

Every literary story suggests a generalization about life, is more than an accounting of the specific fortunes of specific individuals; don’t use the phrase is a symbol of when we can use is or is an example of or is evidence of

“Miss Brill” – old, odd, and set in her ways; not a symbol of but an example of an odd, self-deluded elderly person

“Everyday Use” – quilts are evidence that the family has been enslaved and impoverished, evidence of a past Dee is proud to have escaped; in the story, though, they symbolize a wealth beyond money in the family’s linkages to an authentic heritage of craftsmanship and beauty

SYMBOL CAUTIONS

4. A symbol may have more than one meaning. Possibility of complex meaning plus concreteness

and emotional power gives the symbol is peculiar compressive value

“A Worn Path” – path symbolizes life itself, including its obstacles, its habits, its occasional moments of humor, pain, and beauty, and above all its nature as a journey human beings must take with as much courage and dignity as possible, motivated by love

“Everyday Use” – quilts: inherited values, family attachments, independence and self-reliance, the beauty of useful objects, the virtue of craftsmanship—all in contrast to the shallow, monetary meaning expressed in Dee’s demand for them

ALLEGORY Story than has a second meaning beneath the

surface, endowing a cluster of characters, objects, or even events with added significance; often the pattern relates each literal item to a corresponding abstract idea or moral principle Different from symbolism in that it puts less

emphasis on the literal meanings and more on the ulterior meanings

Ulterior meanings are more fixed, usually constituting a pre-existing system of ideas or beliefs

Example: Medieval/Renaissance religious allegories intended to illustrate the progress of a typical Christian individual through life (Pilgrim’s Progress)

ALLEGORY Example: The Scarlet Letter: evokes and

critiques the 17th century Puritan world in which the novel is set Scarlet “A” for adultery on her dress Names of her husband, Chillingworth, and

daughter, Pearl” Hester’s uneasy residence on the border

between the wilderness (symbolizing natural impulses) and “civilized” Puritan culture that ostracizes her

ALLEGORY

Enables an author to achieve power through economy

Be aware of author’s use of description and detail—not only to create sensual apprehension of a story’s characters and settings but also to suggest meanings beyond that reality (moral, intellectual, and emotional)

FANTASY Story that transcends the bounds of known reality “The purpose of any author is to communicate

truths by means of imagined facts.” Most authors use realistic means to communicate

what could have happened, but some go a step further to create a story that is implausible or even impossible Introduces humans into a world where the ordinary

laws of nature are suspended or superseded and where the landscape and its creature are unfamiliar

Magical realism: fantastic and magical events are woven into mundane and ordinary situations, creating striking and memorable effects unavailable to either realism or fantasy alone

FANTASY Improbable initial situation can reveal truth about

human nature just as the probable one Misogynist and charming woman alone on a desert

island Psychologist puts a rat in a maze, observes its

reactions to the maze, and discovers some truth in rat behavior

Impossible situations can also reveal truths Miser and termagant wife find themselves in hell

May be commercial entertainment or serious literary works Stock characters, exhibit mechanical marvels, provide

thrills and adventures Richly imagined human beings, setting in which

human behavior can be sharply observed and studied

FANTASY Truth in fiction is not to be identified with a

realistic method Fantasy stories may be vehicles for truth as

powerful as stories such as “Interpreter of Maladies” May still employ symbolism or allegory or may

simply provide exotic, nonrealistic settings as a way of observing human nature

Examples: The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, The Tempest, Pilgrim’s Progress, Gulliver’s Travels, and Alice in Wonderland

FANTASY Don’t judge good or bad according to whether

or not it’s possible Once we have accepted and impossible reality

as a premise, do demand probability and consistency in the author’s treatment of it Why does the author employ fantasy? Is it used simply for its own strangeness, or for

thrills or surprises or laughs? Or is it used to illuminate truths of the reader’s own experience?

What is the purpose of the author’s fantastic convention? Is it, like a rollercoaster, simply a machine for producing a temporary thrill? Or does it, like an observation balloon, provide a unique vantage point that may change our view of the world forever?