Monday, October 5, 2015
Symbols in Works of Literary Merit-Brainstorm
Think about a novel or play that you have read, and post information that you remember from the text in order to prepare for this week's in-class essay. Posts should include background, characters, setting, symbols, quotes, etc. The prompt will be related to symbols in literature.
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The novel I want to write about it "Lord of the Flies". I want to write about the beast and what is symbolizes (human nature being evil). I remember that Simon comes to realize the beast is not real, and it is within each person.
ReplyDelete“What I mean is . . . maybe it’s only us”
"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!"
"Ralph wept for the end of innocence"
I am also planning on writing about the beast in "The Lord of the Flies". As the boys begin to worship "the beastie" more devoutly and offer it sacrifices, the darkness in their own behaviors is illuminated. This delivers Goulding's purpose, which is to remind humanity that all individuals possess an innate potential for evil that can be magnified when under pressure. The beast exists in all human beings.
DeleteI am also writing about "Lord of Flies," and more in particularly regarding what Ralph, Piggy, and Jack represent. Freudian psychology established the three parts that form the human personality: id, superego, and ego. Jack, Piggy, and Ralph embody one of the components to the human personality, respectively. Id operates on “the pleasure principle,” which is responsible for immediate satisfaction and a “demand to take care of needs immediately.” Id is more based in instinct, and works unaffected by logic or morals. On the other hand, superego acts as a moral compass, similar to how Piggy tries to act. Lastly,ego is the conscious component that is able to meet the needs of id while maintaining a practical and realistic outlook that includes the consideration of other people. Ralph as the leader has to balance between both Piggy and Jack.
DeleteI'm planning on writing about the significance of fire as it represents the duality of the boys.Here are some of my notes:
Delete· Duality, parallels and represents the boys
· Has the capacity for both good and evil, order/civilization and chaos/destruction
· Fire allegorically has been associated with knowledge, essential to mankind(Prometheus) but is also extremely dangerous
· Is originally ignited using Piggy’s glasses, a symbol of order
· As the boys progressively become more and more isolated from civilization and stop caring about being rescued, the fire is similarly used in a more and more savage context
· there are numerous instances throughout the book at which fire is paralleled to the boys or is associated with order dissolving into chaos
· Ironically, the fire, a fire of savagery and complete chaos, which acts as an orderly signal fire and attracts the attention of the navy which rescues the boys
Quotes:
· “They looked at each other, baffled , in love and hate” –referencing Ralph(order) and Jack(chaos)
· “At last Simon gave up and looked back; saw the white teeth and dim eyes, the blood—and his gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition.”
I would like to write about "Their Eyes Were Watching God". In the story, Janie Crawford is a middle-aged-woman who returns to her home of Eatonville, Florida after a long absence. Janie's grandmother wishes to marry her off to a secure and well off man, but Janie has other plans for her future.
ReplyDeleteJanie's Hair symbolizes her own power and identity.
The pear tree symbolizes Janie's view of an ideal future.
The hurricane symbolizes how chaotic the world can be and opposes the image of the pear tree.
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DeleteI am also thinking about writing on Janie's hair. Her hair symbolizes a "masculine power" that makes Jody jealous and forces her to put a rag on it- representing the restraint of gender roles at the time. Her hair also presents "white-qualities" that embody power in a culture of white supremacy.
DeleteI have also decided to prepare the symbol of Janie's hair for the essay. Throughout the novel, it represents the state of her identity and free spirit. She is oppressed and restricted throughout her marriage with Jody which is represented by her hair that is tightly tied back and concealed by a head rag. Her freedom after Joe's death is represented by her "free" hair which she wears loosely. Her hair after his death represents her free spirit and ability to express her identity.
DeleteI also prepared "Their Eyes Were Watching God." I focused on the symbol of the horizon. Janie mentions the horizon many times as she searches for herself and the purpose in her life.It is difficult for her to achieve her horizon as she is living in a time where many women don't get much say in their future. Her view of her own horizon change through the novel depending on the man she is with. There are times when she is with Logan Killicks she claims it has been stolen from her, and then after she loved Tea Cake she claimed to have stopped chasing her horizon but rather she "pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net." The symbol is important because it demonstrates Janie's character development as the novel progresses.
DeleteI also prepared "Their Eyes Were Watching God." I focused on the symbol of the horizon. Janie mentions the horizon many times as she searches for herself and the purpose in her life.It is difficult for her to achieve her horizon as she is living in a time where many women don't get much say in their future. Her view of her own horizon change through the novel depending on the man she is with. There are times when she is with Logan Killicks she claims it has been stolen from her, and then after she loved Tea Cake she claimed to have stopped chasing her horizon but rather she "pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net." The symbol is important because it demonstrates Janie's character development as the novel progresses.
DeleteI am also planning on doing "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and using Janie's hair as a symbol. I think it works really well because it carries throughout the novel- her relationships with Logan Killicks, Joe and Tea Cake. When Janie is with Logan, her hair is used to symbolize the end of their relationship ("Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her. He ceased to wonder at her long black hair and finger it"). It represents that their is no longer any love in her relationship. Then, as said above, her hair and the head rag it is tied in when she is with Joe represents the restriction she feels as Joe's wife. He demands that she keep it on despite her desire to let her hair free. ("The business of the head rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store").This represents the restraint he puts on her identity and desire to be free. It shows the possessiveness of Joe over Janie. It also ties into the gender roles of the time period--men had control over their wives. With Janie as the protagonist in the novel and her hatred of the control that Joe has over her, the author emphasizes her disapproval of these gender roles. At the end, when Joe dies, Janie lets her hair free--representing her freedom to be herself and reach the "horizon" she had always dreamed of reaching. With Tea Cake, which is when she felt most comfortable and was not conceding to societal norms by being in a relationship with him, her hair is always down, representing her freedom.
DeleteI am either going to use "Jane Eyre" or "Macbeth"
ReplyDeleteBoth books have plethoras of symbols, symbolic settings and characters, and motifs.
Jane Eyre:
notable symbols- Fire, Bertha Mason, the Red-Room
Fire can be symbolic of the development of Jane's passion for Rochester and Jane herself (her anger, passion and warmth). The book associates her with images of fire, brightness, and warmth.
Bertha is symbolic of the "trapped" Victorian wife, oppressed women, and an outward projection of Jane's inner self.
The Red-Room is symbolic of what Jane must overcome in her struggles to find freedom, happiness, and a sense of belonging, as well as the anger and passion she builds up inside.
Macbeth has 10x more symbols
I was also thinking about using Macbeth
DeleteSymbols- blood and dagger
-Blood symbolizes the guilt, permanent stain of consequences, as the idea of guilt manifests so does the incorporation of blood
- “Out, damned spot; out, I say . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”
-“Blood will beget blood”
-dagger, a hallucination that macbeth experiences which symbolizes the act of murder, and complex relationship that Macbeth has with the idea of murder and death (fear of carrying out his own plan)
-""Is that a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me cluth thee."
I was also thinking about using Macbeth
DeleteSymbols- blood and dagger
-Blood symbolizes the guilt, permanent stain of consequences, as the idea of guilt manifests so does the incorporation of blood
- “Out, damned spot; out, I say . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”
-“Blood will beget blood”
-dagger, a hallucination that macbeth experiences which symbolizes the act of murder, and complex relationship that Macbeth has with the idea of murder and death (fear of carrying out his own plan)
-""Is that a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me cluth thee."
I will also be using Macbeth for this essay because it is so rich with symbolism as Alison mentioned. Like Emma, I will be focusing mostly on the appearance of blood within the text; it is mentioned adjacent to all of the pivotal plot points within the story.
DeleteSome important plot points and symbols:
-Macbeth seeing the floating, bloody dagger when his is on his way to kill King Duncan
-When lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to "go get some water / And wash this filthy witness" from his hands after killing Duncan, saying not even "Neptune's Oceans" could cleanse him from this "stain" (guilt)
-"blood will have blood" (Macbeth after killing Banquo) and image of wading in a river of blood
-Lady Macbeth spends last half of the play explaining how she can seem to get this "spot" of blood (guilt) off her conscience
I was also thinking of using Jane Eyre. Other than they symbols Alison has already mentioned there is also the symbolism of how Jane and Mr. Rochester first meet. Originally Mr. Rochester is riding a horse but he falls off of it and relies on Jane for help. This puts Jane, who is of a lesser social and economic status than Mr. Rochester on "even ground". This is significant due to the power struggle that unfolds with Jane and Mr. Rochester's relationship later in the novel.
DeleteIce is another symbol that comes up in the novel,often representing loneliness and emotional distress. After it is revealed at Jane's wedding that Mr. Rochester is already married Jane feels that A Christmas frost had come at mid-summer: a white December storm had whirled over June; ice glazed the ripe apples, drifts crushed the blowing roses; on hay-field and corn-field lay a frozen shroud . . . and the woods, which twelve hours since waved leafy and fragrant as groves between the tropics, now spread, waste, wild, and white as pine-forests in wintry Norway. My hopes were all dead. . . .” In this case Jane uses the feelings of cold and ice to parallel the apparent death of her relationship with Rochester.
I too planned on using Macbeth, and exploring some of the symbols previously mentioned. What I hope to do is expand upon these symbols and the themes they represent, expose the reoccurrence and purpose of said themes throughout Shakespeares work, in order to say something about Shakespeares writing altogether, and analyze the author.
DeleteI am planning on using the symbol of fire in Night by Elie Wisel. The use of fire is combined with the bible's depiction of fire and Gehenna-the jewish version of hell. These flames highlight the divine retribution of a God but the reversal to the wicked having the power of fire in the form crematorias and other ways of torture and death cause Wisel to doubt take into question the presence and validity of a benevolent god.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about using Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
ReplyDeleteThe character Feste, or the fool, symbolizes the foolishness displayed by the numerous other characters in the play. While Feste seems to be the fool, he is the only character left that isn't seen as vacuous. Feste's presence augments the distinct foolishness of the other characters in the play.
Feste, early in the play, says "better a witty fool than a foolish wit." As the only person seen as a fool, he is the one overlooked by the others, and manipulates the characters in the play into looking like fools themselves. Feste symbolizes the foolishness of others by playing the fool himself.
I was thinking about using Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Candy, a tired out rancher, refuses to let go of his useless old mutt. Candy's dog is a symbol to relate to the overall message that only the strong will survive. Similar to the dog that has "outlived his purpose", Candy feels that his tired body and weak appearance will get him no where. Carlson, another rancher, wishes to kill off this dog because it has been "used". He suggests that weak people nearly just get in the way and should be treated as lesser than those capable of working. In this time period when many were trying to achieve the American Dream, only the powerful survived.
ReplyDeleteI am also preparing this book and specifically want to talk about how Candy and his dog parallel to Lennie and George's relationship and how both symbolize the idea that only the strong will survive. In many cases, Lennie and the dog are similar. In one their first descriptions, Candy describes his dog by saying "he was the best sheepdog" and that parallels to Lennie because they are both extremely hardworking and capable of hard labor. Also, the act of Candy killing his dog portrays Candy as weak while George killing Lennie portrays George as strong and passionate. This relates to only the strong will survive because in a sense, Candy has nothing at this point because the relationship with his dog is gone and so is the idea of "George and Lennie and Candy's dream".
DeleteI am also planning to write on Of Mice and Men. I will be using rabbits as a symbol for how Lennie causes destruction to his dream. His dream is to live on a farm with George and tend rabbits. When he talks to Candy and the fantasy becomes realistic, unfortunate events begin to occur. Lennie ends up killing a puppy and says "George won't let me tend the rabbits." After, he ends up killing Curley's wife, and once again he reaches the same conclusion. Right after, he begins to hallucinate and see a rabbit telling him that he is "unfit" to tend rabbits. George later kills him. The moral of the rabbits is that no one can achieve prosperity and nothing can be controlled by humans to make it otherwise.
DeleteThis last comment was by Parth. I can't get my name to come up.
DeleteI also am preparing to use Of Mice and Men. Another symbol to consider is George and Lennie's farm, the dream that they share together. Although there are many other symbols in the book that represent the men trying to achieve the American Dream, their farm symbolizes the American Dream itself. It represents success, wealth, and all the ideals that come with achieving the American Dream. Both Crooks and Candy want to join in on George and Lennie's plan to get their own farm, demonstrating how this is the life that all these men wish to possess. While describing the farm, George tells Candy that "We wouldn’t ask nobody" what to do. This illustrates how they would have the freedom to do whatever they wanted if they actually got their own farm.
DeleteLennie tells Crooks that "every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head", displaying how every man dreams of achieving getting their own farm, the achievement of the American Dream, which is what propels George, Lennie, and the other men through everyday life. The vision of paradise is what keeps them going and forces them, so to say, to keep pushing through the turmoils of life.
I plan on writing about the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. In this book, Salinger uses Holden's red hunting hat as a symbol to represent Holden's constant desire to stand out and be different. They hat also highlights Holden's insecurity because he is always concerned about it and mentioning it. The second symbol, the ducks in central park, represent how Holden is lost and does not know where he will end up. He wonders where the ducks go during the winter and likewise wonders where he will end up. Finally, the exhibits at the museum of natural history and the profanity written on the wall at his sister's school both exemplify his fear of losing his innocence. He erases the profanity because he does not want his sister to lose her innocence as he already has. Holden also comments about how the museum's exhibits are always the same, year after year, and he is different every time he returns, proving how he is aware of his loss of innocence and scared of what it means.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on writing about The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Holden Caulfield, the main character talks a lot about phoniness, which ties into the main symbol, the catcher in the rye. Holden confides in his sister Phoebe that he had a dream about catching kids falling off a cliff. He wants to stop the kids from falling into adulthood, and the world of phoniness. Another symbol in this novel his Holden's red hunting hat. His hunting hat covers his half gray hair, also "covering" the fact that he is becoming an adult sooner or later. Towards the end of the novel Holden takes Phoebe to go on a carousel; he sees her reach toward a gold ring and understands better that kids have to go into adulthood at some point, and he must let them fall.
ReplyDeleteI will write about the green light as a symbol in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” The green light acts as a symbol for Daisy. In attaining Daisy, Gatsby would be fulfilling his American dream. Fulfillment of the American Dream is an idea that is featured prominently throughout the text. When Gatsby first met Daisy, he fell madly in love with her. When they were forced apart by Gatsby’s deployment in the army, he was incredibly upset. Every aspect of his life after that war was a ploy to win Daisy’s love back. In this way, Gatsby is just like the any of the other characters in the novel, Gatsby is in pursuit of his American Dream.
ReplyDeleteI plan to use "The Great Gatsby" as well. One of the most notable settings that serves as a symbol is the valley of ashes by the train station where Tom's mistress Myrtle and her husband George lived. It's ashen state symbolizes how the new found wealth leads to decay It's place halfway between West Egg and New York illustrates how the monetary forces those areas represent contribute to this. Other symbols include the yellow (corruption) spectacled, blue eyed face of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg, the green light Owen mentioned, as well as individual characters. Gatsby is defined by unbridled hope (and obsessive desire), Daisy epitomizes moral evasion, etc. Many of these symbols are connected to motifs as well, such as geography (East vs. West) and color.
DeleteI plan on writing about Frank Kafka's "Metamorphosis"
ReplyDeleteThe insect itself: symbolizes alienation, the isolation Gregor feels when he is not recognized for his successes or appreciated, he feels like a small bug under his father's shadow and family's expectations.
the picture of the woman in furs= symbol for Gregor's human emotions, he couldn't let his mother and sister take the picture form his room because it was the last bit of his humanity that he had left. He realizes that he cannot be physically comfortable and emotionally comfortable, he has to choose.
The Apple stuck in his back:His dad throws in and it gets stuck, this was the moment when everything changed. Gregor stopped being their son, they stopped caring about him. The apple symbolized this truth, even after his death it remained in his back because his family didn't dare move it.