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SYMBOLISM AND ALL THAT

Maybe you never got anything out of your literature courses except a strong
dislike for "analyzing a story to death." Sometimes the symbolic
interpretation of a story or poem can seem pretty far-fetched.

Nevertheless, as soon as you start writing, you start writing on some kind of
symbolic level. Maybe you're not conscious of it, but it's there: in your
characters, their actions, the setting, and the images. (Some writers are
very powerful symbolists, but don't realize it; that's why authors are often
poor critics of their own work.)

You may argue that your writing simply comes out of your own life and
experience, and has nothing to do with "literary" writing. Well, no doubt
you'll include elements of your own life, but whether you like it or not
you'll find yourself treating that experience like gingerbread dough: You'll
shape it into a mold to create a gingerbread man, or you'll have a shapeless
mess on your hands.

What you write is really a kind of commentary on everything you've read so
far in your life. If you get a kick out of romance novels, and you write one
based on your own torrid love life which is quite different from most
romances, your novel is still a comment on what you've read.

This is not the place for a long discussion of the theory of fiction. You
should learn at least the basics of that theory, however, and no better
source exists than Anatomy of Criticism, by Northrop Frye. You may find parts
of it heavy going, but it will repay your efforts by letting you look at your
own work more perceptively, and by enabling you to develop structure and
symbol more consciously.

To paraphrase Frye very crudely, every story is about a search for identity.
That identity depends largely on the protagonist's position (or lack of
position) in society. A tragic story shows a person who moves from a socially
integrated position (the Prince of Denmark, the King of Thebes) to a socially
isolated one (a dead prince, a blind beggar). A comic story shows a person
moving from social isolation (symbolized by poverty, lack of recognition, and
single status) to social integration (wealth, status, and marriage to one's
beloved).

Fiction in the western tradition draws on two major sources: ancient Greek
literature, and the Judaeo-Christian Bible. Both sources are concerned with
preservation or restoration of society, and with the individual hero as
savior or social redeemer. Hamlet wants to redeem Denmark from his uncle's
usurpation; Oedipus wants to save Thebes from the curse that he himself
unintentionally placed on it.

In precisely the same way, the private eye redeems his society by identifying
who is guilty (and therefore who is innocent); the frontier gunman risks his
life to preserve the honest pioneers; the mutant telepath faces danger to
search for fellow-mutants.

Now, you can play this straight or you can twist it. The private eye may find
that everyone is guilty. The gunman may be in the pay of crooked land
speculators. The mutant may find he is sterile, that his talents will die
with him. As noted in "Ten Points on Plotting," an ironic plot undercuts its
surface meaning. Winston Smith, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, is happily
integrated at the end of the story, but we don't share his happiness.

How you use symbols can also undercut or change your apparent meaning. Let's
take a look at some common symbols and patterns, and how they can comment on
your story.

THE NATURAL CYCLE:

Day to night, spring to winter, youth to old age. These suggest all kinds of
imagery: light=goodness, darkness=evil

spring=hope, winter=despair

girl=innocence, crone=evil knowledge, impending death

Northrop Frye argues that we associate images of spring with comedy; images
of summer with romance; images of autumn with tragedy; images of winter with
satire and irony. Note, however, that here "comedy" means a story of social
unification; "tragedy" means a story of social isolation; and "romance" means
a story in which the characters are larger than life and encounter wonders
usually not seen in reality.

Bear in mind that images associated with these cycles are usually all you
need: at the end of Nineteen Eighty-Four, a cold April wind kills the
crocuses that ought to promise hope and renewal. Similarly, autumn leaves can
symbolize an aging person, a dying society, or the onset of evil.

THE NATURAL VERSUS THE HUMAN WORLD:

Desert versus garden

Sinister forest versus park

Pastoral world versus city

In western literature, the journey from innocence to experience is often
symbolized by the protagonist's journey from an idyllic world close to
nature, to an urban world that has closed itself against nature. (In Biblical
terms, this is the journey from Eden through the desert of the fallen world,
to the Heavenly City.) Returns to the natural world are sometimes successful;
sometimes the protagonist manages to bring the urban world into a new harmony
with nature. In other cases, an urban hero finds meaning and value through
some kind of contact with nature.

THE HERO'S QUEST: Mysterious or unusual birth

Prophecy that he will overthrow the present order, restore a vanished order

Secluded childhood among humble people in a pastoral setting

Signs of the hero's unusual nature

Journey-quest--a series of adventures and ordeals that test the hero,
culminating in a climactic confrontation

Death--real or symbolic

Rebirth

Recognition as savior-king; formation of new society around him

SYMBOLIC IMAGES:

A symbol may be good or evil, depending on its context, and the author is
quite free to develop the context to convey a particular symbolism. For
example, the tree is usually a symbol of life--but not if you use it as the
venue for a lynching, or you turn its wood into a crucifix or a gibbet. Here
are some images and their most common symbolic meanings:

Garden: nature ordered to serve human needs (*paradis* is a Persian word for
garden)

Wilderness: nature hostile to human needs

River: life, often seen as ending in death as the river ends in the sea

Sea: chaos, death, source of life

Flower: youth, sexuality; red flowers symbolize death of young men

Pastoral animals: Ordered human society

Predatory animals: Evil; threats to human order

Fire: light, life or hell and lust

Sky: heaven, fate or necessity

Bridge: Link between worlds, between life and death

SYMBOLIC CHARACTERS:

Different types of characters recur so often that they've acquired their own
names. Here are some of the most common:

Eiron: One who deprecates himself and appears less than he really is;
includes most types of hero (Ulysses, Frodo, Huck Finn). The term "irony"
derives from eiron.

Alazon: An imposter, one who boasts and presents himself as more than he
really is; subtypes include the braggart soldier (General Buck Turgidson in
Dr. Strangelove) and obsessed philosopher-mad scientist (Saruman, Dr.
Strangelove). In my novel Tsunami, I named my villain Allison; although he
starts as a movie director, he ends up as a braggart soldier.

Tricky slave: Hero's helper (Jim in Huckleberry Finn; Gollum in The Lord of
the Rings).

Helpful giant: Hero's helper; in tune with nature (Ents in TLOR; Chewbacca in
Star Wars).

Wise old man: Hero's helper; possessor of knowledge (Gandalf, Obi-Wan
Kenobi).

Buffoon: Creates a festive mood, relieves tension (Sam Gamgee, Mercutio).

Churl: Straight man, killjoy or bumpkin (Uriah Heep).

Fair maiden: Symbol of purity and redemption (Rowena) or of repressed
sexuality (any number of Ice Maidens).

Dark woman: Symbol of lust & temptation (or of natural sexuality).

Hero's double: Represents the dark side of the hero's character (Ged's shadow
in Wizard of Earthsea).

Since these images are much older than what is now politically correct, they
can cause problems; readers may see them as affirmations of old, oppressive
social values. However, many modern writers now use them ironically to
criticize, not endorse, the values the images originally expressed.
Nevertheless, be aware that if your heroines are always blonde virgins and
your villainesses are always seductive brunettes, you may be sending a
message you don't consciously intend.

Be aware also that you're perfectly free to develop your own symbolic system.
Just as the "Rosebud" sled in Citizen Kane symbolizes Kane's lost childhood
innocence, you can make a symbol out of a hat rack, a catcher's mitt, or an
old bus schedule. You're also free to make your symbols understandable to
your readers, or to keep them part of your private mythology. If you
associate a catcher's mitt with your the death of your hero's father, the
reader will understand--on some level--what you're trying to say. If the
catcher's mitt seems important to your hero, but you don't tell us why, we
can only guess at the symbolic meaning.

Don't try too self-consciously to be "symbolic." But if certain images,
objects or events seem to dominate your thinking about your novel, write
yourself a letter about them. See whether they might indeed carry some
symbolic level of meaning, and if that level is in harmony with your
conscious intent.