Symbolism In Books

Jailcrow_of_Mandos · Still very bored Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 313

I've been thinking about how often they make books like this- Animal Farm, Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, etc

How do you feel about symbolism- especially in comparison to the actual quality of the plot?

I think it's interesting here and there, but not to the point where teachers make you decide the deeper meaning of the green light shining across the lake. I think teachers often ruin the experiences students have when reading good books by doing this.

Explain some run ins you've had with symbolism- good or bad Smile

As a side note, I hate the Scarlet Letter and all it stands for- you can just tell how whiney the author was by it. Then the movie had this random attack with explosions and what such :/ Only thing that saved the story at all was Gary Oldman.

On the other hand, I find the parallel between The Silmarillion (JRR Tolkien) and the Bible very interesting, though I'm not going to break it down.

fallenangel · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:28 pm Post subject:

I despise symbolism assignments/discussions. Know what, I really don't care what this symbolizes, because I just want to know the story. If I don't pick up on the symbolism right away, it's not worth knowing. Any extra work ruins it.

I hate the Scarlet Letter, too (finally someone else who feels the same way!). The only good thing was the symbolism is so blatantly obvious, at least the ones we had to do projects on. Like... "let this rose be a symbol of..." Rolling eyes

But like when it comes to reading Old Man And The Sea, which we just did a few weeks ago, the symbolism discussions were crazy. Some of them were fine, like the old man feeling as if nails were being driven into his hands, or carrying the mast on his back, the ones you pick up on right away. But getting so far into it and discussing what every single element and animal "means" is crazy. . . . .

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Jailcrow_of_Mandos · Still very bored Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 313

Yeah, the only thing I liked about The Scarlet Letter was Chillingworth. I wanted him to catch them and get them stoned or something. Loser went and killed himself, sissy. What I do think is funny, though, is that because so many people hate it, some people say they like it to seem different and intelligent. Laughing

I saw a movie of The Old Man and the Sea. I'm glad I've never read it. The movie was boring enough, and NauticalNymph has told me horror stories about it :/

Rebus · Very bored Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 224

I appreciate a bit of symbolism, as long as the author isn't obviously impressed with his own cleverness.

If the book relies on it I don't like it. On the other hand, if the story works on the superficial level [i]and[/i] has a symbolic meaning then all's good.

Which is why I think Animal Farm worked so well. Because, at it's simplest, it was a decent story about a farmyard rebellion. And, although lots of people don't agree with me, I think the Narnia stories do work, for the same reason. Yes, the symbolism is obvious, but there's still a good story underneath.

But then, no one makes me study it. If I had to write essays on symbolism I might not be so fond of it.

R

DragonicFlames · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:44 pm Post subject:

The only real books I have read that had any symbolism in there was:

The Giver
The Lord of the Flies

Both just bored me out. I don't like books with symbolism, I just want something that is interesting, with a good story line, without me having to think about it afterward! <_<

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Jailcrow_of_Mandos · Still very bored Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 313

I agree, Rebus ^_^ I think symbolism is pretty interesting- sort of keeps you on your toes during a book. Reading [i]Master and Commander[/i] has been interesting because it doesn't have a shred of symbolism! I had been getting pretty accustomed to it, so now I miss it a bit. I just like Shakespeare's symbolism better than Hawthorne-- for exactly the reason you mentioned ^.^

DragonicFlames, you should consider that those are books the school has you read, and that they mutilate the pieces. I hate it when teachers destroy books- not that either of those was even good, so hmm... Actually, I don't remmeebr the Giver, but still. It's like how Shakespeare is so awesome, and then teachers make everyone hate them Sad

makes me sad

Randome note: I hate John Steinbeck :/ That should just be a given.

fallenangel · Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject:

Grapes of Wrath. Worst. Book. Ever.

It made me hate turtles. Sad

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DragonicFlames · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:50 pm Post subject:

Naw, schools didn't give it to me to read my book nerdy friends did. They were like "this book is so controversal you should read it!" and gave me that nerdy snort/laugh thing.

Oo; Yeah school makes books suck even when you like to read them.
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