Day 25 Symbolism

Symbolism is something that on the surface is its literal self but which also has another meaning or even several meanings. For example, a sword may be a sword and also symbolize justice. A symbol may be said to embody an idea. There are two general types of symbols:

• universal symbols that embody universally recognizable meanings wherever used, such as light to symbolize knowledge, a skull to symbolize death, etc.
• constructed symbols that are given symbolic meaning by the way an author uses them in a literary work, as the white whale becomes a symbol of evil in Moby Dick

A symbol is an object, animate or inanimate, that stands for or points to a reality beyond itself. The cross, for example, is often used to represent suffering. Symbols, however, also indicate their own reality. For example, a cross not only stands for suffering, but it also stands for Christian suffering. A sunrise not only represents new beginnings but the beginning of a new day.

The more you read and study literature, the more you will come across words that always function symbolically. The consistency of such symbols makes them archetypes. The seasons are a perfect example:

• Winter represents aging, decay, and death
• Spring is often used to represent energy, birth, and hope
• Summer is symbolic of childhood, fun, and laughter
• Autumn stands for maturity, wisdom, and fulfillment.

Other typical examples include the scales to symbolize justice; a dove for peace, the rose, purity; the stars and stripes, America; the lion, strength and courage, and so on. In literature, symbols can be cultural, contextual, or personal.

Things get a little harder, though, when a poet creates a new symbol. You then have to study the poem carefully and ask yourself which word has a central place in the poem or which word transforms other elements in the poem. The albatross in Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a case in point. The albatross is a recurring character, and it symbolizes the suffering that the mariner is going through. Sometimes symbols can be straightforward, but more often it is not easy to say exactly what they symbolize. In Blake’s “The Tyger,” for instance, the tiger could be a symbol of great energy and creativity, but it could also mean many other things. The same applies to Coleridge's albatross. You can guess at the meaning but can never be quite sure.

Always remember when discussing symbols and symbolism in poetry that they are rich and complex and have many layers of meaning. Rather than using the words “stands for" or “points to" when you discuss them, try to use words like “suggests” or “expresses” or “represents.”

Notes from Dr. K. Wheeler's website.The Online Symbolism Dictionary offers explanations of many common symbols.

S 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105	Persimmons by Li-Young Lee In sixth grade Mrs. Walker slapped the back of my head and made me stand in the corner for not knowing the difference between persimmon and precision. How to choose persimmons. This is precision. Ripe ones are soft and brown-spotted. Sniff the bottoms. The sweet one will be fragrant. How to eat: put the knife away, lay down the newspaper. Peel the skin tenderly, not to tear the meat. Chew on the skin, suck it, and swallow. Now, eat the meat of the fruit, so sweet all of it, to the heart. Donna undresses, her stomach is white. In the yard, dewy and shivering with crickets, we lie naked, face-up, face-down, I teach her Chinese. Crickets: chiu chiu. Dew: I've forgotten. Naked: I've forgotten. Ni, wo: you and me. I part her legs, remember to tell her she is beautiful as the moon. Other words that got me into trouble were fight and fright, wren and yarn. Fight was what I did when I was frightened, fright was what I felt when I was fighting. Wrens are small, plain birds, yarn is what one knits with. Wrens are soft as yarn. My mother made birds out of yarn. I loved to watch her tie the stuff; a bird, a rabbit, a wee man. Mrs. Walker brought a persimmon to class and cut it up so everyone could taste a Chinese apple. Knowing it wasn't ripe or sweet, I didn't eat but watched the other faces. My mother said every persimmon has a sun inside, something golden, glowing, warm as my face. Once, in the cellar, I found two wrapped in newspaper forgotten and not yet ripe. I took them and set them both on my bedroom windowsill, where each morning a cardinal sang. The sun, the sun. Finally understanding he was going blind, my father would stay up all one night waiting for a song, a ghost. I gave him the persimmons, swelled, heavy as sadness, and sweet as love. This year, in the muddy lighting of my parents' cellar, I rummage, looking for something I lost. My father sits on the tired, wooden stairs, black cane between his knees, hand over hand, gripping the handle. He's so happy that I've come home. I ask how his eyes are, a stupid question. All gone, he answers. Under some blankets, I find three scrolls. I sit beside him and untie three paintings by my father: Hibiscus leaf and a white flower. Two cats preening. Two persimmons, so full they want to drop from the cloth. He raises both hands to touch the cloth, asks, Which is this? This is persimmons, Father. Oh, the feel of the wolftail on the silk, the strength, the tense precision in the wrist. I painted them hundreds of times eyes closed. These I painted blind. Some things never leave a person: scent of the hair of one you love, the texture of persimmons, in your palm, the ripe weight.
	In the poem, persimmons are a symbol of several elements that have figured importantly in this Chinese narrator’s life: they stand for painful memories of cultural barriers imposed by language and custom, and for a present-day loving connection to an elderly, blind father. The poet begins with a schoolboy incident in which he was punished for not knowing the difference between “persimmon” and “precision” and makes a play on other words which sound similar and “that got [him] into trouble.” He takes revenge later, when the teacher brings to class a persimmon that only the narrator knows is unripe, as he “watched the . . . faces” without participating. Persimmons remind him of an adult sensual relationship with Donna, a Caucasian woman, and of his attempts to teach her Chinese words which he himself can no longer remember. The second part of the poem describes the role persimmons have played in his father’s life and in their relationship. To comfort his father, gone blind, the narrator gives him a sweet, ripe persimmon, so full and redolent with flavor that it will surely stimulate the senses remaining. Later yet again, the father and he “feel” a silk painting of persimmons, “painted blind / Some things never leave a person.” (Notes from Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database.)

Your Turn: Think of an object which has symbolic significance for you., perhaps even idiosyncratically. Compose a poem which features that object and reveals its layers of meanings through the details you select. Respect your readers enough to reveal this. Don't tell us what it represents; show us.

Listen to Lee read this poem.