Symbolism in Literature
"Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration; it is inherent in the very texture of human life. Language itself is a symbolism."
Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician turned philosopher put forth this thought in his lecture, Symbolism: Its Meaning and Effect, and who can disagree. Symbolism has seeped into the arts in such a way that it has become an integral part of most literary works and even general communication. A mere sight of a skull and crossbones figure and you know that there is something that you are being warned against. Roses and images of hearts have become synonymous with love. Different colors have come to symbolize different emotions, for example purple for royalty, green for envy and red for jealousy. But before symbolism penetrated everyday language the way it has, it became a mainstay in the literary world. Symbolism has been a writing method of choice for many authors and writers due to the allowance of subtlety that this literary device enables you with.
According to etymology, symbol literally means something that has been put together. The source of the word is the Greek word sumballein, that refers to the idea of putting things together to contrast them and ultimately became a word that was used for compare. From the word symbol came the concept of symbolism where one object is used to refer to something else. So, when an author or a poet uses one object to refer to a completely different idea, then he or she is employing symbolism.
So why do writers use symbols in literature? What is the importance of symbolism? Symbolism is used in literature to give to the literary work meaning that goes beyond what is evident to the reader. Symbolism helps in giving the piece of writing feeling and mood without the writer having to actually spell out the same. By giving certain things human like characteristics and also defining them with certain qualities, the writer can manage to give the novel another level that may refer to things that are completely alien from what is mentioned in the piece of writing.
Examples of Symbolism in Literature
Symbolism need not necessarily have to be symbols that are easily recognizable or ones that are commonly used. They can be subtle symbolic representations used to hint at something without making it an obvious and overwhelming statement. There are many famous examples of symbolism in novels in English language, some of which are listed out below.
- The Scarlet Letter: The forcible wearing of the letter 'A' by Hester Prynne to indicate that she was an adulteress and that the name of the father of her illegitimate child started with the letter A.
- The Lord of the Flies: This book was replete with symbolisms. The island was symbolic of our world and the way the characters dealt with the various situations was a symbol for the way many people live their lives. Every character symbolizes something, for example, Ralph is a symbol of good intentions, Piggy symbolizes intelligence and civilization, the conch stands for democracy, Jack embodies the worst characteristics of the human race, etc. In fact several believe that William Golding meant the title too to be a reference to Beelzebub, a Hebrew name that is sometimes used to refer to Satan.
- MacBeth: William Shakespeare was a master of symbology. In this play, he uses blood to symbolize guilt and a raven to symbolize bad luck.
- Pilgrim's Progress: John Bunyan very obviously used his protagonist to be the embodiment of every Christian. Every fellow traveler of Christian represents states of being, every place he passes represents the temptations that you may face in life before being led to your ultimate destination, Heaven which in the book is Celestial City.
- Animal Farm: An allegorical novel, the entire story symbolizes communism and the evils that comes out of following the ideology. Each animal character in the book is a symbol for a key character in the Russian revolution.
Understanding symbolism can be difficult because while some writers use very simple imagery to put forward their views, there are authors, playwrights and poets who believe in using multiple symbols and several contexts to play on the symbols they have used. Symbolism is what makes prose and poetry more enchanting to read. It gives us a reason to find insights into the writer's way of thinking and to try to understand why a writer would put forward a theory the way he or she has. It is the writer's way of playing games with the reader.
