... felt free before escaping from the institution. When he finally got out, peter experienced the best parts and the worst parts of living a free life. Symbols are used by Hubert to represent all parts of freedom. The first symbol to show up in the novel is the Sisiutl, a mythological creature of indigenous tribes from British Columbia. A Sisiutl's form is "something long and snake ... 's horned heads, searching, looking both in front and behind". Quite a creepy image to think about. In Dreamspeaker, the Sisiutl is used as a symbol for Peter's lack of freedom. Being tossed around from foste...

• Word Count: 658
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach for some reason not to be touched"(p.6). In fact, Jean Rhys uses floral symbols to show the mental condition of the novel's principal character. Above all, the garden at Coulibri serves to clarify Antoinette's emotional state, because of its present state and because it is compared in different ways ... to the biblical garden of Eden. The first and most important floral symbol in the novel is the garden at the estate ... as snaky looking and the recurring image of the tree of life at the end...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... pleas. Then he talks about birds of prey, Schmidt3 hurrying, and devouring to really twist the proverbial knife and to convince her. After adoring her body for ages and wading through innuendo, he says let us roll all our strength and all our sweetness into one ball and says he wants to spend the rest of time with her making the sun run. Although the message ... death is so powerful, that the poem transcends the cliched 'lines' of more frivolous writers to become a stirring meditation on the importance of living fully during the brief span allotted us (Brians). Andrew Marvell tries in t...

• Word Count: 786
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The early Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan were more spiritual, and they lived in perfect harmony with the nature. The circle in aboriginal life was a meaningful teaching stool. The aboriginal regarded the circle as the main symbol for understanding life's mysteries. They have observed that all live was circular movement which could be seen everywhere throughout nature. The circle was present in everyday life of aboriginal people from the ritual ceremonies to the healing process. The circle was a symbol of human equality. The circle is a universal symbol holding significant meaning for differ...

• Word Count: 657
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... with the statement "there was no hope" and ends with the words "the dead"" (Peterson). To finalize his perception of Ireland as a country of the dead, Joyce uses death imagery and Gabriel's life to illustrate Irish culture as living in the past. Joyce's use of imagery and symbols of death throughout the short story reinforces his views of Ireland. The title itself shows ... Ireland is dead and must reach an epiphany to exit its hopeless state. The first introduced character is a symbol of death ... he must step out of the past and into the present, something Joyce wants all of Ireland ...

• Word Count: 1200
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... self-sacrifice and upholding of personal beliefs, even though they are ultimately damaging and pushed unto these characters. Providing a reason to survive, the theme of hope exists as the ability to be inspired by physical symbols or experiences of contentment to believe that peace may exist in war's demise. The texts similarly use characterization and naturalistic metaphorical devices but differ in ... destruction must be seen through. Both authors use characterization, in particular the transformation of character, to demonstrate that courage exists as a product of hope for new order, ...

• Word Count: 1103
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Destruction and Happiness through Rain and Water- From beginning to end, Ernest Hemingway floods his novel A Farewell to Arms with rain and other images of water, using them not only to set the scene but as symbols for both destruction and happiness. The rain seems to always be the messenger of grim news, the omen of destruction and death. Whatever momentary happiness Catherine and Henry are able ... in outside it kept on raining- (Hemingway 126). Although no meteorological phenomenon holds such power, Catherine's fear proves to be prophetic, as doom does eventually greet them. As the rain s...

• Word Count: 1000
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a picture book. It does not make you think and actually figure out what is happening in the story. Heart of Darkness contains many symbols throughout it that have much more meaning that they appear to have. Some of the symbols that make this story come alive are: the presence of fog, the painting that Kurtz painted of the blindfolded girl, the mysterious and ... you. " When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night. It did not shift or drive; it was just there, standing all around you like something solid." You never know what lies after ...

• Word Count: 923
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... reader in understanding his views of travel and change. In her novel, The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler uses various motifs and symbols to show Macon's gradual transition from darkness to light, or from blindness to sight. Tyler's use of symbolism helps the reader to understand Macon's withdrawal from society and lack of awareness of the world around him. Witness, Macon's house as a tomb ... , he would rather do without medication and fully experience it, rather than to feel no pain and go through the motions of living life. Moreover, following his decision to open himself up to all expe...

• Word Count: 1496
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... unknown. Critics call Emily Dickinson's poem a masterpiece with strange "haunting power."" In Dickinson's poem, "Because I could not stop for Death,"" there is much impression in the tone, in symbols, and in the use of imagery that exudes creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone in Dickinson's poem. Dickinson uses controlling adjectives ""slowly- and "passed- " ... first scene is perhaps the most important. One author noted that "the children, at recess, do not play (as one would expect them to) but strive- (Monteiro 20). In addition, a...

• Word Count: 491
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , the eerie chiming count down of the clock, and the last and blackest of rooms as Prince Prospero final resting place are all ways in which Poe uses symbols to create and allegory to life. The rooms and their color are essential in that through the use of color they convey our mortality. The progressively darkening colors can be seen a stages of life. When ... around the corner you must make the journey through the room you are in and progress to the next just as in life. Without this journey or progression none of us would grow in mind or thought and thus be confined to the same color ...

• Word Count: 583
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... man with the dog, she would not let anything get in her way because she was determined to do what she had to do. Which was to get the medicine for her grandson to keep him alive. There are a few symbols that Phoenix does to show death. One of those symbols is that Phoenix always wears a red bandana wherever she goes, which symbolizes blood. There were many quotes ... " make it clear that Phoenix is thinking about death or how she used to once be a slave. Phoenix seems to be very emotional over the fact that to her all she has left in the world is her little grandson and she is doing the ...

• Word Count: 637
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Edgar Allen Poe is known for his use of symbolism. That is apparent in one of his best-known short stories, The Masque of the Red Death. There are endless examples and interpretations of symbolism in this story. It must be studied at a literal and allegorical level in order to be truly understood. The major symbols in this story are the ebony clock, Prince ... Prospero, and the seven colored rooms. First of all, this huge ebony clock is found in the black room, so it's obviously a sign of death. It's a symbol that ... , the Black Death killed so many people in Europe that there weren't many w...

• Word Count: 573
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... by considering the meaning of the words Frost uses in a literal sense but also by considering them as symbols. Whether considering the literal meaning or even the symbolic significance, each stanza seems to be responsible for delivering vital information as the poem develops. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", Robert Frost ... of his true obligation. He cannot stand all night to watch the snow pile up in the woods. The horse conveys its confusion by shaking its bell as to what his leader is doing stopping before his destination. The bells" ringing is a drastic contrast to the comp...

• Word Count: 914
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Jackson's dress catching in the bush, and the scarecrow and the black dog. All of these symbols represent death in one way or another. The first symbol is the title of the story and how it brings Phoenix Jackson to her journey of "A Worn Path." This path is familiar to Phoenix, for she has traveled down it her entire life. As Phoenix starts her long ... hears rustling in the bushes as she makes her way along the path. Phoenix does not see anything, but she thinks the wild animals might try to get her, so she says "Out of my way all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild ...

• Word Count: 663
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... characters in this story, is depressed and suicidal. After her mother died, she feels like there is nothing to live for. Her mother was the love and joy in her life; without her, she is lost. All she has left is her house, which she is extremely proud of, and her brother, which she ... seems not to care for. She decides to release herself from her troubles by drowning herself in a pond. The other main character, Dr. Fergusson, sees her and tries to save her life. This pond ... working with many kinds of people, but he did not enjoy his life. He had no love in his life, and without it, t...

• Word Count: 1769
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

We all look through the windows in our homes to view the current weather and nature. Most of us keep our windows clean and operational so we can enjoy fresh air, a cool breeze, the singing of birds or just the view of a storm. A window, nature and a passing storm were symbols used by Chopin ... in the west facing her window." The use of changing weather is a reflection of emotional changes Mrs. Mallard feels as she grasps and struggles for a different acceptable outlook on her life. Through the limited omniscient narrator we learn that she "was fixed away off yonder on one of those ... bri...

• Word Count: 496
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... happen to the man. All we get to know about him is that he once lost a son and got divorced from his former wife. He is living a new life now with a new son and a new wife. We do not know how they lost their son, but the text tells in p. 3 l. 122-123: ''We attended a group for parents ... , they did just felt like they did it half. He keeps comparing his present life to the other. The text gives a lot of symbols of that; when he drives his new son to the arena, where the son is going to play lacrosse. He is looking much back in the mirrors of the car even though there ... is no traf...

• Word Count: 778
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... poetry should not deserve any attention. A number of themes in Housman's poetry deal with the central attitude to thecommonplaces of human existence.? Wilson says,his achievement has been merely to state memorably certain melancholy commonplaces of human existence without any real presentation of that existence as we live it ... over and over again and draw from it the same painful moral.? Macklem thinks this common theme will lead to an appreciation of the intimate nature of the values of life. For Housman, he thinks it will broaden and deepen the meanings of poetry itself. Macklem als...

• Word Count: 535
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... traveling aboard a train, thinking about the "things he had saved to write, looking out the window and seeing snow on the mountains" (Hemingway 828). Harry also remembers an old man saying, "No, that's not snow. It's too early for snow" (Hemingway 829). However, as the story reveals, "it was snow, all right, and it was snow they tramped along in until they ... , mortally injured, waits for death. Hemingway demonstrates his artistic talent by portraying the story of a writer's life of self-examination, revealing his own struggles in life, and constructs depth and relevance through use of ...

• Word Count: 1114
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

... takes place in the house B. Setting occurs in an hour II. Chopin employs imagery to indicate Louise's realization A. Spring season indicates a new beginning B. Positive sensory details indicate a positive change III. Chopin utilizes symbols to illustrate Louise's circumstance A. Dead husband symbolizes a new life for Louise IV. Chopin uses irony for a unique ending to the story A. Louise dies at her husband's reappearance The oppression of women in the ... how women had very little freedom. Within this setting, Chopin employs vivid imagery that indicates that Louise is approaching a cha...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... enrich the reader's experience. While also emphasizing the themes, and foreshadowing the course of events in the literary work. This above statement is further proved by the saturation of various symbols, motifs, and archetypes in the novel snow falling on cedars, by David Guterson. Guterson has very effectively used the storm as a motif that influences the major themes of the novel ... understand the uncontrollable events that influence the course of human lives in Snow Falling on Cedars, the use of symbols, motifs and archetypes is analyzed. A storm signifies the overwhelming force of...

• Word Count: 1696
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... it-this sex symbol- I always thought symbols were those things that you clashed together. That's the trouble- A sex symbol is just a thing. I hate being a thing. But if I"m going to be something, I "d rather have it be sex than some of the other things that they have symbols for". This famous quote by Marilyn Monroe displays her unique personality in all forms. Although Marilyn is often portrayed ... as a sex symbol, I want you to know a little about who she was and the life she lived ... . Beginning with her unhappy childhood, through her rise to fame, and finally to the tragic end, yo...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... ." (1270) This resonates throughout the entire play and becomes a mantra for Nora later when she decides to leave the children and it helps justify Nora's departure. While the children are not prominent characters in the play itself, they are seen as symbols of what Nora's life is and how she is defined. In the beginning, she plays with the children, buys them ... the situation alone and let Nora and Torvald settle things on their own. It can be argued that this decision by Mrs. Linde is helping Nora most of all. After this Nora comes to the realization that she lives in a dollhouse crea...

• Word Count: 970
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... unknown. Critics call Emily Dickinson's poem a masterpiece with strange "haunting power."" In Dickinson's poem, "Because I could not stop for Death,"" there is much impression in the tone, in symbols, and in the use of imagery that exudes creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone in Dickinson's poem. Dickinson uses controlling adjectives ""slowly- and "passed- " ... first scene is perhaps the most important. One author noted that "the children, at recess, do not play (as one would expect them to) but strive- (Monteiro 20). In addition, a...

• Word Count: 790
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School