Category: Literary Devices

The author Thornton Wilder uses dialogue in the play ‘Our Town’. There is a lot left to the imagination as the sets are simple and throughout the acts, the narrative provided by the Stage Manager sets the scene in what is known as the dream play technique.

The stage set is very basic with only a few props, table and chairs, the audience is left to conjure up the scenery from their imagination. Wilder does this on purpose to lead the audience not to be distracted and focus on the details of life. Using the dream-play technique in which there exists no stable place and time, Wilder captures generality of human emotions.

The play is about life structured over three days. It begins at dawn when the sun rises and the town wakes up and ends with the dead in the cemetery. The repetition of the sun’s cycle parallels the life cycle however the human lifespan is not as long as the suns, and on death a person does not rise again. Human reproduction provides hope however and this is depicted in both Act I and II with the birth of twins, and birth of Emily’s second child. Significantly in Act II, Emily dies in childbirth however the circle of life continues with her children.

Throughout the play, the dialogue flows. For example, as the Stage Manager describes the cemetery, he comments on patriotism: “New Hampshire boys. had a notion that the Union ought to be kept together… And they went and died about it”. Later, as he looks toward the close, he comments, “Most everybody’s asleep in Grover’s Corners”.

Wilder’s use of poetic imagery throughout the play is carefully balanced with the subject matter. Many of the images derive from nature, mainly rural life. Mrs. Webb says, “If it were a snake, it would bite you”, when describing the location of Emily’s blue hair ribbon. Mr. Webb comments on the social aspect of Grover’s Corners by likening the situation to the separation of cream from milk “I guess we’re all hunting like everybody else for a way the diligent and sensible can rise to the top and the lazy and quarrelsome can sink to the bottom”.

Wilder has structured the play into three acts, representing the human lifecycle. Birth in Act I, marriage in the second act, and death in the last act. Act I opens with the birth of the day, dawn, as well as the birth of twins. He also shows the birth of friendship, with Emily and George becoming friends. The Stage Manager is the most important person in the whole play as he provides a narrative, who delivers and acts small character parts and becomes the cue for concepts, imagination and themes. He delivers each of the main characters as literary creations, symbolic of normal boy, girl relationships.

The whole play is a pleading by Wilder for viewers to enjoy life to its fullest. In the last act, he notes that most people live their lives without appreciating the small, insignificant moments. Emily’s final comment is: “Do any human beings ever realize life while the live it? The small things in life only become important when death takes them away. So, in death, everyone finally appreciates life”.

Wilder presents the theme by showing the audience what they may consider every day, boring aspects of life. Act I shows acts of living like preparing breakfast, returning from work, the paperboy, the milkman and human interactions. He presents these scenes from life as entertainment, as lessons.

These scenes of day-to-day life of ordinary people are then built on through the play and revisited. Each scene shows different normal everyday activities. The activities happen with repetition, without thinking, as if on autopilot. Most people do not appreciate that time will pass so fast. As a person gets older, they start to see more value in the little moments, mainly as they have already have started to lose things they can’t get back, the raising of children, time with parents and realize how little they really valued them at the time. After death, they are gone forever. Wilder forces the audience to reverse their initial preconception of what is important in life by highlighting that they would have originally perceived as the everyday and insignificant. Thus, he concludes that it is not the large events but the trivialities that become meaningful.

‘Our Town’ represents any small town, performed on a mental stage conjured up in the mind, showing glimpses of human interaction, that make us think about what makes life worth living — in any setting, in any time.

The poem titled Ithaca by Constantine Cavafy was written in 1911. In this sonnet, the great poet of all times alludes to the “importance of enjoying the trip, any trip, and not only longing for a journey’s end” (González De León, 2017). This illustration can be extended to a variety of processes in life, save to say that as much as we enjoy the trip “we all want to return home, to Ithaca” (Gonzalez De Leon, 2017) for many reasons. Perfect to add that in this poem Cavafy makes a beautiful “allusion of the legendary journey of the Odyssey to the journey of every man through life and suggests that each person is looking for his own Ithaca, his personal supreme goal. However, in the end, it is not the goal but the journey that matters, because this journey makes us wise and gives people the richest good experience, knowledge, and maturity” (“Ithaca Poem,” n.d.). In this essay, I will explore this illusion, by giving deep analyses of the stanzas and commenting on the historical, political, and mythological facts on which the poem is referring. My comment will be wreathed with numerable poetic devices, such as metaphor, and repetition, whose drive will be to simplistically and bare the principal theme of the poem.

The initial verse of the poem starts with Cavafy addressing the reader in the second person, as ‘you’. To the reader, he offers advice, but the reader is not named, this means that he or she could be anyone; it also could be Odysseus, safe to say that he is addressing any reader of the poem. Therein, Cavafy says “As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one” (Cavafy, 1911), In this, the poet is saying “that as the traveler sets out on his journey, he must hope that it is a long one, full of adventure and discovery “ (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.). The destination in question is Ithaka, an island off the Western Coast of Greece, where Odysseus reverted to after the Trojan War.

Odysseus’ journey was a very long and difficult one. Accozzoli states that the journey covered “14 places, 5192 miles, which is about 8 356 km” (Accozzoli,). In all, it took him ten years before he was able to rejoin his wife Penelope in Ithaka. It is important to indicate that in the context of this poem, Ithaka is a purpose of any journey through life, because “everybody has a purpose, a special unique assignment” (Van Lint, 2019).

The journey through life has many obstacles. In line four of the poem, Odysseus encounters two hindrances. The first obstacles he meets are the “Laistrygonians who ate many of his men and destroyed eleven of his twelve ships by throwing rocks from high cliffs” (Wiki, 2019). While twelve ships were destroyed, Odysseus’ ship was not, since it was hidden in a cove near shore. After this calamity, they met the Cyclops “who were giant, one-eyed, wild race of lawless creatures who possessed neither social manners nor fear of the Gods” (Greek Gods & Goddesses, 2017). Another calamity met them, in on this one, the Polyphemus, took Odysseus and his men prisoner and ate six of them before Odysseus escaped with the remaining six men. An interesting element in both these unfortunate events is that even though they were catastrophic, Odysseus never gave up on his journey to Ithaca, but also that the men who were with him exuded loyalty, like real soldiers.

At times in life, the rightness of our actions can be deemed wrong in certain situations. In verse five, Cavafy recalls the event in which Poseidon obstructs Odysseus’s return. He did this because Odysseus had “blinded Polyphemus who was Poseidon’s son” (Atsma, 2017). All these beings, including the ones I mentioned in the above paragraphs, had one purpose, to delay or destroy Odysseus. In line five, Cavafy advises Odysseus and the reader, not to be afraid of them. But also that if the reader keeps his thoughts raised high, in other words, focusing on the purpose of his journey; he will never encounter any challenge resembling those monsters. Here, Cavafy encourages Odysseus and the reader to remain hopeful.

There is a variation to the advice that Cavafy gives to Odysseus in line five. In lines eight to eleven, Cavafy repeats this advice, but in this instance, he says that the Laistrygonians, Cyclops, or Poseidon “will not appear as long as the Odysseus or the reader’s spirit and body are stirred by a rare excitement” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.). This is to say that Odysseus or the reader “must always continue to experience the thrill of being alive” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.). In other words, enjoy the trip through the challenges or obstacles, don’t mind them, because if you mind them, they will appear if they are summoned within his soul, and allow them to reside in him.

Being optimistic and hopeful enables us to envision, to look forward to easy moments in our journey to Ithaca. This sentiment is solidified and repeated in the second verse of the poem when Cavafy says “Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time” (Cavafy, 1911). In this, Cavafy “imagines various places where a person might stop, such as a Phoenician trading station” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.).). You will know that Phoenicia was the coastal district of ancient Syria and is now the coast of modern Lebanon. Its ports were centers of trade in the ancient world (Mark, 2018). With this, Cavafy tells the reader that many beautiful things may be purchased there, including precious stones such as mother of pearl and coral, and every kind of perfume. Likewise, he indirectly encourages the reader to visit Egyptian cities and learn from the scholars who live there. This is because, in the ancient world, Egypt was a “center of learning” (Sesanti, 2018), especially its capital city, Alexandria, which “was one of the largest cities in the world and contained the largest library” (UNESCO, 2003).

With all the optimism and hope seeded in the reader, in verse three, in particular the first line, Cavafy advises the reader again. In this, he says he must make sure that at all material times, Ithacas remains in mind. This is because; it is his destination, a final one. This advice can be related to many life situations or contexts, to a student who is a first year, his final destination is graduation, he or she must keep that in mind, no matter the difficulties he or she comes across along the way, he must keep the Ithaka in mind by all means necessary. Another value that Cavafy accords to the reader is that he “must not hurry the journey at all” (Cavafy, 1911), because it is “it is better if the journey lasts for years so that the reader is old by the time he reaches home and also wealthy from all he has accumulated on his travels. Then, he will not expect Ithaka to make him rich” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.). In this value three important qualities, experience, knowledge, and wisdom. These qualities are achieved in the journey towards Ithaca. It is these values that prepare the reader for the Ithaca.

Looking at the above paragraphs, it is clear that metaphor and repetition seem to be the dominant poetic devices that Cavafy puts to use. In the context of the poem, the Island of Ithaka relates to Odysseus’ home, but Cavafy uses this in a supplementary sense because the road to Ithaka is a metaphor for everybody’s journey through life. It embodies, the aspirations, goals, visions, aims, and objects of the human race, a reward for actions that one person in the present.

Apart from metaphor, repetition is notable throughout the poem. In the first verse, Cavafy repeats the names of the antagonists from the Odyssey, the Laistrygonians, Cyclops, and Poseidon. He does this to “emphasize how they may be avoided” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.). Likewise, the repetition of “as long as” (Cavafy, 1911) in lines seven and eight of stanza one resonates with the recurrence of “unless” (Cavafy, 1911) at the beginning of lines twelve and thirteen. The “effect suggests that the reader needs repeated reinforcement before he or she is ready to hear and absorb the message offered by Cavafy” (Ithaca Poetry, n.d.).

As approach the end of this essay, I wish to allude to the historical context of the poem. You will remember that “When Greece was under Turkish rule in the eighteenth century, Greek literature virtually disappeared. It was awakened following the Greek War of Independence between 1821 and 1827. As Greek national pride grew, there was a strong movement amongst writers to use the demotic form of the Greek language. Demotic is the popular form of Greek used by the ordinary person. However, many writers passionately believed in the preservation of the classical literary language. The controversial debate continued throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Many Greek intellectuals argued that using the demotic language was the only way to preserve Greek literature and develop Greek culture. But, feelings ran high on both sides. In 1903, university students rioted in Athens when a translation of the New Testament in demotic Greek was serialized in a newspaper. More riots followed several years later when Aeschylus’s ancient Greek trilogy the Oresteia was performed in demotic Greek. The Greek government did not recognize the demotic form of the language until 1917, and only then was it taught in schools. Cavafy aligned himself for the most part with the movement for demotic Greek, which is the language used in the Ithaka poem. He was a contributor to the magazine of a youth group called Nea Zoe, which existed to promote demotic Greek literature. Cavafy’s poetry appeared in Nea Zoe for a decade. However, Cavafy also valued the purist, or classical form of the language, which was part of his family and class heritage” ().

In sum, this essay spoke to the notion that it is better to trip than to arrive. Life should not be wasted in always anticipating the goal of one’s endeavors or in building up hopes and schemes for the future but in enjoying the journey. This was done through deep analyses of the stanzas and commenting on the historical, political, and mythological facts to which the poem is referring. And comments thereof were wreathed metaphor and repetition 

‘Macbeth’, first performed in 1606, is an Elizabethan tragedy written by William Shakespeare. He details the anarchy that greed brings rise to, having Macbeth being driven by both himself and extrinsic figures to murder Scotland’s king, ultimately leading to his own anguished death. Shakespeare utilizes a myriad of literary devices to communicate the ideas of fate, natural and unnatural, and guilt and conscience, though how these ideas are construed relies significantly on the societal context of the audience – particularly within the Elizabethan and modern era – which further influences how the overall purpose of the text is achieved. However, the ways in which Shakespeare communicates these ideas retain their timeless power in spite of differing audiences.

The idea of fate is cardinal in conveying Macbeth’s purpose of communicating the consequences of fantastical ambition. In an Elizabethan context, Macbeth was considered to be the paradigm of a ‘tragic hero’, having him be characterized as a lawful individual led to corruption by the witches who reveal his fateful prophecy, “that [he shall] be king”. Comparatively, modern-day audiences view his maliciousness as unwarranted hubris provoked only by himself, as he gains excessive pride upon having a childlike apparition foreshadow that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”, which he misreads as a sign of undefeatable power. However, Macbeth becomes so consumed by his inability to control fate that his thoughts become delusions, failing to see the deceit within the witches’ predictions, having Macduff end up having been “untimely ripped from his mother’s womb”, aspersing Macbeth’s false courage. Dramatic irony is utilized to illustrate the importance of fate, with Lady Macbeth paying obeisance to Duncan despite her guilefully instigating his murder, as he claims her to be “[his] honored hostess”. This demonstrates the unpredictability of fate, as Duncan is inclined to believe that Macbeth’s “great love” would engender anything but his own demise, alluded to through the imagery of Macbeth’s “brandished steel, [smoking] with bloody execution” is referenced, suggesting that Macbeth is capable of murder in the path of fate.

The symbolic polarity between the purity of nature and the wickedness of the unnatural is alluded to quite often throughout ‘Macbeth’, emphasizing the recurrent idea that “fair is foul, and foul is fair”. Elizabethan citizens believed that the wealth of their country relied on the propriety of their king, and that an equitable monarchy creates natural order. As Macbeth murders Duncan and commandeers the throne, the composure of nature is disturbed, having earth “[shake] as though it [has] a fever”. This defiance against nature encapsulates the immorality of Macbeth’s actions, and the consequent political corruption that the “instruments of darkness” bring Scotland to suffer. Symbolism is employed to emphasize the contrast between night and day, having Macbeth request the “seeling night” to “scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day” as he premeditates Banquo’s murder, exemplifying the turpitude of darkness that leads Macbeth to contradict natural order. The amorality of Lady Macbeth’s desire to rule, as she implores God to “unsex [her]’ and ‘fill [her with] direst cruelty”, as well as the symbolism within her manipulative guidance to have Macbeth “look like the innocent flower/ But be the serpent underneath it”, also builds on the fact that both she and Macbeth exploit nature to disguise their cruel ambitions, causing them to become unnatural beings.

Macbeth’s culpability for his wrongdoings is portrayed to both an Elizabethan and modern audience in such a way that the ramifications of guilt on his conscience become evident. Although Macbeth can dissimulate his remorse to the public eye, his guilt does not cease to plague him, as he speaks his thoughts aloud upon murdering Duncan, asking if “all great Neptune’s ocean [will] wash [Duncan’s] blood/ Clean from [his] hand” to merely realize that “[his] hand will rather [make] the green [ocean] red”. Situational irony is employed to express Macbeth’s gluttonous craving for supremacy, only to find that his guilt prevents him from being satisfied by his usurped position, with him asserting that “[he has] been dressed in borrowed robes”. Similarly, Lady Macbeth partakes in Duncan’s murder without displaying hesitancy or penitence, rebuking Macbeth for “[wearing] a heart so white”, though she is eventually led to end her own life to escape her ineluctable shame. Imagery and symbolism are also concomitantly utilized to convey the inevitability of regret, with Lady Macbeth vigorously washing her hands from the illusion of Duncan’s blood – symbolizing guiltiness – whilst exclaiming that “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten [her hands]”, as one cannot elude the prepotency of guilt.

Although the ideas explored in ‘Macbeth’ perpetuate their unfading power, there are indeed differences regarding how audiences from separate time periods interpret these ideas and, accordingly, decipher what this tragic tale’s true purpose is. Shakespeare employs various literary devices to depict how nature is disturbed, bringing rise to unnatural chaos, how fate cannot be controlled – but rather unveils life’s dark truths – and how inescapable guilt torments the guilty. As said by Erich Fromm, “greed is a pit which exhausts people in an endless effort to satisfy needs without ever reaching satisfaction”.

The recent rise of suburbia in mainstream media has promoted the suburban lifestyle to be the most desirable and ideal way of life. However, when understood in depth, suburbia often hides a deceptive façade as a means to achieve a sense of social superiority. The short story, ‘The Swimmer’ (Cheever, 1964), explores the social and psychological repercussions of the constant display of a superficial persona in American suburbia. The story concentrates on the middle-aged man Neddy Merrill’s journey through the ‘Lucinda River’ and his gradual acceptance of the truth that he has avoided facing – his life is in ruins. ‘The Swimmer’ uses imagery, symbolism and characterization to generate the setting of an American suburban community in order to represent the idea that suburbia is a superficial place of social isolation.

Cheever’s use of imagery is prevalent in allowing the short story to generate the setting of an American suburban community used to illustrate the idea that suburbia lacks human depth. At the midpoint of Neddy Merrill’s journey through his suburban neighborhood, he visits Mrs. Levy’s house and shivers from “the rain that had cooled the air”. Additionally, he observes that the “force of the wind had stripped a maple of its red and yellow leaves” and “scattered them over the grass and the water”. As a result, the combination of visual and tactile imagery is highly effective in promoting an uncomfortable and desolate environment. Furthermore, the unfriendly weather greatly contrasts with the initial descriptions of Neddy relaxing at the Westerhazy’s pool, which was “fed by an artesian well with high iron content”. Subsequently, the juxtaposition of the imagery establishes opposing feelings of luxury and discomfort to the reader, which in turn supports the idea of loneliness in suburban lifestyle. In addition, auditory imagery is evident when Neddy compares the filthy public pool to have an “effect of the water on voices, the illusion of brilliance and suspense” which was same as it had been at the Bunkers’ party but instead, “the sounds here were louder, harsher, and more shrill”. These sounds having connotation of an inhospitable environment, positions the reader to associate the internal aspects of suburbia, being the shunned public pools, with feelings of isolation. Through imagery, Cheever is able to expose the harsh realities of the typical perfect portrayal of suburbia by depicting the traumatic sounds that were heard by Neddy. Moreover, the use of varying types of imagery is crucial in generating suburban setting in ‘The Swimmer’ and thus allows the representation of superficiality in suburbia.

The integration of symbolism is critical in generating the American suburban setting in ‘The Swimmer’, which assists in the construction of the idea that suburbia is empty. This concept is demonstrated through alcoholism, symbolizing the suburban residents’ refusal to face hardships and immediate resort to the overindulgence of alcoholic substances as a means of temporary distraction. Similarly, whenever Neddy Merrill feels insecure, he drinks, as he believes that whiskey would “warm him, pick him up, carry him through the last of his journey” and a stimulant would “refresh his feeling that”, he was “original and valorous”. The symbol of alcohol is personified, having connotations of intimate human relationship and dependence on liquor. Moreover, this further symbolizes people replacing human connections with alcohol. Additionally, when the thought of swimming across the county seemed foolish, Neddy swept it aside with alcohol, reflecting how he managed to damage his relationships with his loved ones. The symbol of alcoholism effectively highlights Merrill’s psychological troubles resulting from the attempt to maintain his false identity in desperation to preserve his position at the top of the social hierarchy. Symbolism is also found within swimming pools since Neddy Merrill’s journey through the neighborhood pools also represents periods of time that he travels pass. Originally, Ned’s envision of swimming the eight miles back home was grand, as he “seemed to see, with a cartographer’s eye, that string of swimming pools, that quasi subterranean stream that curved across the county”, reflecting his youthful, strong and grandiose facade. Likewise, the mask presented by the suburban community has similar traits, demonstrated by how suburban residents often behave as if they are superior than others. Additionally, pools are again used as a medium to convey the protagonist’s progress through life, when he was barefoot on the wet grass at the Welchers’, “where he found their pool was dry”. The difference of quality between Neddy’s first and last pool is drastic, which reinforces the idea that although sometimes suburbia may seem perfect at first, its quality also declines as layers are unveiled due to time, parallel to the depressing quality of the pools. Furthermore, the symbols of alcoholism and the swimming pools form a complex but pessimistic suburban setting which convey its cosmetic lifestyle.

Characterization plays a major role in producing the setting of an American suburban community in order to represent the idea that suburbia is a superficial place of social isolation. Neddy Merrill, sees himself as perfect and has an exterior appearance that suggests extreme wealth, however, this is revealed to be a façade. To begin with, his character is portrayed as “not a practical joker” nor a “fool”, characterizing him to be a very stern figure, and ironically has a “vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure”. Along with this, the characterization of Neddy is also supported by the setting, an excessively rich community of suburbia where swimming pools, normally considered a luxury, are so plentiful. Using the swimming pools, Cheever is able to accentuate Merrill’s toxic masculinity, discussing how he has “inexplicable contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into pools” and acts almighty since “he never used the ladder” to exit the pool. Despite his arrogancy, Neddy still appears to feel embarrassment, after his incident at the traffic where he was “laughed at, jeered at” and had “no dignity or humor to bring to the situation”. The fact that Neddy instinctively thought of this dignity and humor in this terrifying event, highlights his obsession with maintaining his status, reinforcing the often fake and solitary nature of suburbia. As the story advances, Ned’s high social standing is no longer validated by his masculinity he emanated at the Gilmartins’ pool. Here, for the first time in his life, he did not dive but “went down the steps into the icy water and swam a hobbled sidestroke”. Evidently, Cheever takes advantage of the swimming pool setting to expose Ned’s reality – he was not this image of the perfect man that he painted on the exterior. Consequently, the decay of both Neddy’s character and decay of the setting both represent the idea that suburbia is a dishonest place of social isolation and facade.

In conclusion, one of many ways to represent the idea that suburbia is a desolate and superficial place, is by manipulating the setting. In this case, imagery, symbolism and characterization are three major techniques utilized in ‘The Swimmer’ to construct the setting of American suburbia. John Cheever has created a powerful text which is successful in exploring the social and psychological aftermath of the fake portrayal of perfection. Ultimately, the short story raises the importance of being true to oneself, as this is a key concept to shaping humanity.

‘The Great Gatsby’, a ‘great’ American novel written by none other than F. Scott Fitzgerald. This classic novel takes a close look at the American Dream as it existed in Fitzgerald’s time. The book was set out in America in the 1920s which was also known as the Jazz Age. The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they just work hard enough. However, Fitzgerald’s novel represents an era of concerns where decayed social and moral values where just the beginning of the demise of the American Dream.

Fitzgerald uses a variety of techniques hidden throughout the text to address and support his concerns. The use of irony is one such technique. When Fitzgerald has Daisy stay with Tom and not with Gatsby, this is situational irony due to this being the opposite of the reader’s expectations. We can see dramatic irony used in the scene where all of the characters are aware of the love affair between Gatsby and Daisy, except for poor Tom, until he finally figures it out for himself.

Fitzgerald uses a materialistic society which vividly reveals to us the craving nature of human beings. Fitzgerald addresses this concern through the use of characterization such as Myrtle who unlike Daisy and Tom, was not born into money. She explicitly shows her wanting nature when it comes to her husband, George’s income status. “The only crazy I was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out”. Not only does the Myrtle fixate on the money aspect of her marriage, but also seems mercantile. We see Myrtle changing into someone she always seemed to be, falsely rich and materialistic. Through this concern of corruptive wealth, Fitzgerald evidently showed us that money corrupts an individual, and therefore, the society in its entirety.

Fitzgerald made many things in ‘The Great Gatsby’ highly symbolic to highlight his main ideas. He uses many colors, locations, car models and various objects. Fitzgerald uses the symbolism of color to represent the concerns of the Jazz Age. When Gatsby and Daisy are reunited years later, a lot of objects are yellow, Gatsby’s car is yellow, his tie, the buttons on Daisy’s dress and at one point, Nick who is third wheeling on this scene, describes some flowers as “smelling like pale gold”. Gold and yellow are special colors in ‘The Great Gatsby’. Yellow is the color not only of wealth but also symbolizes death. Myrtle Wilson’s house is yellow, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which stare over so much death in the novel, are ringed in yellow glasses and Gatsby’s car, is yellow. Wealth was the American Dream. But to Fitzgerald, wealth wasn’t simply good.

Through his literary techniques of symbolism, characterization and irony, Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as a time of greed and an empty pursuit of pleasure. This became an era of decayed social and moral values where Fitzgerald’s writing captured this lively, turbulent time from its wild parties, dancing and illegal drinking to its post-war prosperity and its new freedoms for women. However, this resulted ultimately in the corruption and decline of the American Dream due to the unrestrained desire for money, status and pleasure.

Symbolism is a concept people are exposed to everyday, whether they notice it or not. It is a device that is used in many different forms, from state flags to works of art to the lyrics of one’s favorite song. Many find symbolism to give such things a higher significance or importance, allowing them to become much more than their surface meanings. The symbolism in literature is no different. In literature, symbolism has been used to thoroughly amplify the meaning of a work, allowing poems, novels, and the like to incorporate themes and ideas without explicitly stating them in the text. Such uses of symbols in literary works are easily seen in symbolic novels such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1850), a book revolving around a Puritan woman in America who had committed adultery. By observing the studies of four scholarly articles and reading ‘The Scarlet Letter’, one begins to comprehend the captivating effects symbolism has on the underlying themes and ideas of a piece of literature.

According to Erich Fromm, a symbol is simply “something that stands for something else” (Fromm, 121). This definition seems rather vague, and hardly represents the role symbols have in literary works. To further understand symbols in literature, it is important to become accustomed to the three types of symbols that exist: conventional symbols, accidental symbols and universal symbols. Conventional symbols, which are the best known of the three, are symbols with no inherent correlation between them, yet are still used to represent thoughts and ideas (Fromm, 121). For example, the letters P-E-N stand for an object used to write, yet the sound pen has nothing to do with the actual object. Accidental symbols are lesser-known symbols that form with one’s personal experiences (Fromm, 122). For instance, if a person wears specific socks during a race and wins, that person may feel that those socks symbolize luck. The socks, however, would not symbolize the same thing to other people since they did not share the same positive experience as the winner of the race. These symbols tend to be more personal than the others and are rarely found in literature (Fromm, 123). Finally, universal symbols are symbols that have an intrinsic with the object they represent; their relationship is not coincidental, rather it is rooted in the nature of the symbol itself (Fromm, 123). For example, because rainy weather is cold, dull, and cloudy, people often relate it to sadness and misfortune. This relationship between the symbol and the idea it represents is what makes it universal – what an object symbolizes is often shared by all people, or at least represents a similar idea. This type of symbol is what most people consider when discussing symbolism in literature.

Though universal symbols often represent an idea tied to the symbolic object, that does not mean everyone interprets a universal symbol the same way. For example, though many see rain as a symbol of misfortune or sadness, some may also see rain as a symbol of fertility, since rainy weather is prominent in the spring and helps vegetation grow. Symbols in literature can vary in meaning from person to person; for this reason, symbolism in literature often has no absolute meaning, but rather can be interpreted differently as the reader sees fit to unify the literary work (Frye, 13). There are also times where the overall mood of a literary work influences how a certain symbol is interpreted by the reader (Frye, 13). For example, if a poem that had an overall happy, comforting mood, and if the poem had used fire as a symbol, the reader would most likely believe the fire represents something positive, such as comfort or energy. Contrarily, if a poem that used fire as a symbol had an overall dark and depressing mood, the readers would most likely see the fire as symbolizing something much more sinister, such as destruction. Symbolism often works in unity with the mood of a literary work, allowing the work’s emotion to be further directed towards the reader (Frye, 13).

When discussing the relationship between symbolism and literature, a man that often comes to mind is author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a pioneer of romantic novel during the 19th century and one of the founders of symbolic American literature (Gao, 1). Few authors during this time could employ symbolism within their literature as artistically as Hawthorne could, and his books served as an inspiration for other writers to practice his own techniques. Hawthorne’s greatest symbolic masterpiece is considered to be ‘The Scarlet Letter’, a story published in 1850 that is often regarded as the first symbolic novel in American literature (Lei, 1). The symbolism in this novel was not incorporated into significant objects throughout the novel, rather it was meticulously placed throughout all aspects of the novel, including the physical settings, times, actions, and even the characters’ names (Lei, 3).

Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is a great example of the use of symbolism in literature and provides numerous different symbols throughout the book for the reader to dissect and interpret. Of the variety of symbols that were implemented in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ are the symbolic meanings of day and night throughout the novel. When one thinks of daytime, they usually relate it to a feeling of openness, with the daylight allowing no secrecy, privacy, or reservation (Gao, 7). However, this perceived symbolic meaning of day is severely different from the symbolic meaning Hawthorne assigns it to in ‘The Scarlet Letter’. Instead of daytime resembling truth or honesty, it symbolizes concealment and disguise, quite the opposite of what most people assume. Many of the characters, specifically Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, hide their true personalities or intentions and “…lived a pretended life during the daytime” (Gao, 8). This is evident in Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale because despite them having an affair, they kept to themselves during the hours of daylight to make it appear that they had no relation whatsoever. Even the few times Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale did interact in daylight, such as when Hester was first present on the scaffold and when she and her daughter, Pearl, were at Governor Bellingham’s mansion, Hester addressed Reverend Dimmesdale as simply her pastor, only saying, “Thou wast my pastor…thou knowest what’s in my heart, and what are a mother’s rights…”, when asking him to persuade the Governor to let her keep Pearl (Hawthorne, 133). The concealment of truth that occurs between Hester and Dimmesdale during the day justifies the idea that the daylight symbolizes secrecy and disguise throughout ‘The Scarlet Letter’. During the night, however, the behaviors of Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger are much different, and no longer hide their true selves. It was at night when Hester and Dimmesdale let their passion for one another manifest, causing the event of adultery. It was only at night when Dimmesdale dared to admit that he was indeed Pearl’s rightful father, and only at night did he and Hester show that they were much more than mere acquaintances. Pearl herself acknowledges this change in Dimmesdale’s attitude toward her and Hester, saying, “In the dark night-time he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine…But…in the sunny day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him!” (Hawthorne, 275). Roger’s true intentions regarding his close proximity with Dimmesdale were finally apparent as well. Rather than being a diligent doctor attempting to heal the sickly Dimmesdale, which is the role he acts out during the day, he reveals to Hester at night that he has only stood by Dimmesdale in order to get his revenge, allowing Dimmesdale “…to be tortured with frightful dreams, and desperate thoughts, the sting of remorse, and despair of pardon…” (Hawthorne, 205). These acts of truth allow the reader to see that, contrary to the day, the night symbolizes honesty and openness. It represents a time where the characters no longer must wear a disguise to hide their sinful ways, where they can reveal their true goals and feelings.

Symbolism has proven to be an important and creative way for authors to express concepts and themes in a literary work. Nathaniel Hawthorne did an astounding job of showing authors how to integrate symbolism through their works with ‘The Scarlet Letter’, influencing many to begin writing books filled with symbolic meanings to further intrigue readers in its ideas. Presently, it is common to find books filled with symbolism, whether they use symbols that are relatively easy to interpret or utilize symbols that seem so abstract in their meanings that a deep analysis of the book may be required to fully comprehend its meaning. Nevertheless, being aware of the effects symbolism has on a literary piece helps one understand and appreciate the fascinating implementation of symbols that have encompassed literature.

Works Cited

1. Fromm, Erich. “The Nature of Symbolic Language”. Class Handout: English 101. Cerro Coso Community College, 2010. 121-126. Print.
2. Frye, Northrop. “Three Meanings of Symbolism”. Yale French Studies, no. 9, 1952, pp. 11–19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2929052
3. Gao, Haihong. ‘An Analysis of Symbolic Images in the Scarlet Letter”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 8, no. 12, 2018, p. 1725+. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A566681551/GLS?u=cclc_cerroccc&sid=GLS&xid=06e785d2.
4. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Margaret Brantley. The Scarlet Letter. Edited by Cynthia Brantley. Johnson, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.
5. Lei, Nan. “A Brief Study on the Symbolic Meaning of the Main Characters’ Name in ‘The Scarlet Letter’”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 5, no. 10, 2015, p. 2164+. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A446734743/GLS?u=cclc_cerroccc&sid=GLS&xid=829ba841

The importance of the symbol that Marigold portrays?

The marigold symbolizes the idea that although Pecola, Frieda, and Claudia may work very hard in their community to grow and prosper, it may never happen. The marigold had good seeds, was cared for, and was planted with good intentions, but because of the location where the marigold was planted, it never grew. Ultimately, the marigold symbolizes black suppression, indicating that no matter how hard they try to change things, even against the conditions they are under, they will never be able to “grow” and prosper because of the location they were “planted”.

Why did author Toni Morrison choose to use Shirley Temple as the doll, and what importance does she hold?

I think Morrison chose Shirley Temple as the doll in this story because of her reputation for embodying what young girls in America were supposed to act and be like. Her smile was full of happiness, portraying the idea that she was perfect. The fact that Pecola, a young black girl, was so fascinated with this doll shows the deep-rooted ideals that white girls were the ones who got made into dolls, and even black girls wanted to be like white girls. It also allows Morrison to make the metaphor of why Pecola isn’t beautiful because of what lay inside her, but only because of her exterior.

Is the last name Breedlove ironic and important in this story?

The surname Breedlove is ironic because it suggests that this family loves to “breed love”. However, it actually alludes to the family’s destructive ways that they choose to use to show that they love each other. Morrison specifically uses Cholly because he only knows how to show love through sex; he was never taught to value himself as anything more than that. Men in this society tended to be objectified as people who were utterly obsessed with their sexuality. Lastly, in their community, women having children was less about giving birth than it was about “breeding”.

Rhetorical Analyzer:

“Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? See the cat. It goes meow-meow. Come and play. Come play with Jane”(Morrison 1).

Throughout this passage, Morrison makes specific use of very short and staccato sentences. This passage opens the book and, by using this technique, Morrison is foreshadowing to the reader a possible deficiency in the education of the book’s main characters. The opening is actually an excerpt from an old-fashioned reading primer; something that a young black girl, like Frieda or Claudia MacTeer, would most likely use to learn how to read. As you read throughout the passage, the beginnings and endings of sentences begin to blur together, just as many of the chapters do throughout this book. In this quote, all of the words are at most two syllables, and they are so simplistic that they come across as if they were trying to diminish the education of the reader. The passage focuses on playing into the stereotypes of a “common” middle-class white family. By using the happy white family, it juxtaposes the pain and suffering the black characters in this book must endure for something as simple as education. Even including the line “They are very happy” suggests that white families don’t have struggles and that they have nothing to fear or worry about. Young girls, especially those of African descent, were influenced by teachings and ideals that they were inferior to those around them from the moment they began to read. That something like this is ingrained in such an important aspect of childhood and education also acts as a foundation for what the story focuses on. Morrison chose a passage that diminishes black people’s lives without even mentioning a word about race by using both short sentences and simple words to open her novel.

“But the dismembering of dolls was not the true horror. The truly terrifying thing was the transference of the same impulses to little white girls. The indifference with which I could have asked them was shaken only by my desire to do so… When I learned how repulsive this disinterested violence was, that it was repulsive because it was disinterested, my shame floundered about the refuge. The best hiding place was love. Thus the conversion from pristine sadism to fabricated hatred, to fraudulent love. It was a small step to Shirley Temple. I learned much later to worship her, just as I learned to delight in cleanliness, knowing, even as I learned, that the change was adjustment without improvement”(Morrison 23).

This passage makes clear Claudia’s intense hatred for Shirley Temple and everything she symbolizes through her highly emotional diction and developing persona. Unlike Pecola, Claudia doesn’t understand the fascination and love that everyone has for Shirley Temple, and this in of itself places the role of a very important symbol in Claudia’s life. Claudia begins the passage with a very innocent persona; the hatred that Claudia holds over this doll stems from the ideas of her being powerless in a world where being not only a girl, but a black girl just makes the barriers one has to cross even higher. Her innocence comes to full view when she begins to believe that the only reason people have such a profound love for this cultural star is because of what lies inside of her. Just before this event happens Claudia describes the time when she violently pulled apart the doll with the hope of discovering what truly made them beautiful, but instead she found a hard metal core with nothing in it. She mentions her realization that what the dolls represented was “terrifying”, and this is the moment when Claudia begins to understand that the love people have for Shirley Temple isn’t born out of interest in what she has inside of where, but what she looks like on the outside. Shirley Temple is a symbol for what society judges as perfect and valued; a young, beautiful, pale girl with bright eyes.

While Claudia is very accustomed to racial segregation and the idea that she is subordinate to any white person in any position, her main worries and struggles come from the constant threat of poverty and homelessness. Her persona begins to mature when she realizes the reason why Shirley Temple is so highly valued is because of her pale skin and beautiful face, her hatred moves from not only dolls but to any young white girl with any resemblance to Temple. Claudia says, “the truly terrifying thing was the transference of the same impulses to little white girls”. Her innocence begins to fade; she goes on to say that “I learned much later to worship her, just as I learned to delight in cleanliness”; this shows that for the first time the things she really values begin to become distorted at the cost of acceptance by the society around her. In this passage Morrison provides a crystal-clear example of Claudia beginning to understand the battles she is soon to face. She makes use of the words “fraudulent love” showing that although she may never fully accept the changes she must make, she will at least act in a manner that will fit into the society.

“There is nothing more to say about the furnishings. They were anything but describable, having been conceived, manufactured, shipped, and sold in various states of thoughtlessness, greed, and indifference. The furniture had aged without ever having become familiar. People had owned it but never known it. No one had lost a penny or a brooch under the cushions of either sofa and remembered the place and time of the loss or the finding… No one had given birth in one of the beds- or remembered with fondness the peeled paint places, because that’s what the baby, when he learned to pull himself up, used to pick loose”(Morrison 35).

Morrison uses this passage to create a place where the reader can picture this story taking place; she uses both imagery and symbolism very effectively to do so. The chapter as a whole was written as though it were the directions sent from a play director of how exactly he wanted his set to be built. The illusion of isolation, despair, and failure are all quite synonymous with the description of the Breedlove’s home. This passage illustrates the living conditions of the Breedlove family and just how grim their day-to-day lives were. The furniture holds this feeling of time passing, but nothing ever worth mentioning happened in their home and their family. Although the family never got new furniture, the furniture they had never collected any memories for the family. The author mentions that while people had owned the furniture, no one had ever “known it”. The future becomes a symbol synonymous with the ideas that are in many aspects of their lives; the Breedlove family had come into contact with so many different people and so many people had claimed ownership of this storefront, but this store didn’t hold any meaning or memories for any of them. However, the coach was specifically mentioned and several different possible scenarios were linked to the object. How Morrison values the worth of the couch or anything in the world, is how much can be found in it and how much has been lost in it. The fact that “No one had lost a penny or a brooch” on the couch was a disgrace to Morrison all on its own. Morrison also mentions that the worth of a bed comes from the life it helped create, and because these things are absent from the Breedlove home, the home brings no positivity to the world. This quote also reinforces the idea that everything in life must be given meaning or it isn’t important at all; the few appliances the Breedloves do one just further examples of suffering and pain. With this passage, a deep sense of symbolism grows, and the reader can create an idea of the poverty and pain these characters face every day, but they still keep their values high.

Wordsmith: Phlegm: “When, on a day trip to collect coal, I cough once, loudly, through bronchial tubes already packed tight with phlegm, my mother frowns”(Morrison 10). Definition: The thick viscous substance secreted by the mucous membranes of the respiratory passages, especially when produced in excessive or abnormal quantities, e.g., when someone is suffering from a cold. Metaphysical: “Outdoors was the end of something, an irrevocable, physical fact, defining and complementing our metaphysical condition”(Morrison 17). Definition: relating to metaphysics. Fructifying: “Or rather, it was productive and fructifying pain”(Morrison 12). Definition: To make (something) fruitful or productive. Added: “But she’s too addled now to keep up”(Morrison 13). Definition: To be unable to think clearly; confused. Bemused: “I was bemused with the thing itself and the way it looked”(Morrison 20). Definition: To be puzzled, confused, or bewildered. Acridness: “Instead I tasted and smelled the acridness of tin plates and cups designed for tea parties that bored me”(Morrison 22). Definition: To have a sharp and harsh or unpleasantly pungent taste or odor: irritating acrid smoke. Galvanized: “Instead I looked with loathing on new dresses that required a hateful bath in a galvanized zinc tub before wearing”(Morrison 22). Definition: To coat (iron or steel) with a protective layer of zinc. Chagrined: “She would go on like that for hours, connecting one offense to another until all of the things that chagrined her were spewed together”(Morrison 24). Definition: To feel distressed or humiliated. Foist: “Rather, it foists itself on the eye of the passerby in a manner that is both irritating and melancholy”(Morrison 33). Definition: To impose an unwelcome or unnecessary person or thing on. Surfeited: “The anger will not hold; the puppy is too easily surfeited”(Morrison 50). Definition: To cause (someone) to desire no more of something as a result of having consumed or done it to excess.

The definition of the word ‘ransom’ is the sum paid to the kidnappers for the safe return of a kidnapped person. Yet, in O. Henry’s story ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’, the opposite happens. The kidnappers are compelled to pay a fee to the abductee’s father to take the kidnapped boy off their hands. In the story, Sam and Bill hatch a plan to kidnap Johnny and extract a two thousand dollars ransom from his affluent father Ebenezer Dorset; unfortunately, the plan backfires when the boy proves to be too mischievous and troublesome. O. Henry makes his stories entertaining by effectively utilizing literary devices such as situational irony and imagery.

O. Henry uses situational irony to add depth to his characters and incorporate humor throughout the story. For example, in the story, ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’, although Johnny is kidnapped by two experienced criminals, Sam observes that the “fun of camping out in the cave [has] made [Johnny] forget that he [is] a captive himself” (p. 72). This is ironic because normally an abductee would be scared and frightened, but here Johnny is treating the kidnapping as a wonderful camping adventure and having a great time. This adds a sense of humor because the roles are switched and Johnny is making the kidnappers his captives. It further develops Johnny’s character as the reader infers that the boy must live in a home with few restrictions and is allowed to abide by his own rules. This is important to the story because it explains the boy’s lack of manners and his bossy behavior towards Bill and Sam. Another example of situational irony in O. Henry’s story is when the men receive a letter from Ebenezer Dorset in response to their ransom note, saying, “You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash and I agree to take him off your hands” (p 78). This creates an unexpected humorous twist in the plot because the reader would expect Johnny’s dad to be eager to pay the demands of the kidnappers to get his child back, but here the roles are reversed and the dad is asking cash from the kidnappers. It also provides further insight into Johnny’s character as the reader can deduce that Mr. Dorset knows that Johnny is a terror and the men are not going to be able to control him, which explains why Mr. Dorset thinks he can change the situation to his advantage and make the men pay. Thus, through the use of situational irony, the author not only changes the reader’s predictions with amusement, but also increases the understanding of the characters’ motivations.

Imagery is another literary device that O. Henry employs to appeal to the reader’s senses, make the story more humorous, and show character interactions and motivations. For instance, when Johnny is trying to scalp Bill, Sam describes Bill’s screams as not “yells, or howls, or shouts, or whoops, or yawps, such as you’d expect from a manly set of vocal organs—… [but] simply indecent, terrifying, humiliating screams, such as women emit when they see caterpillars” (p. 72-73). This auditory imagery contrasting a man’s and a woman’s scream creates a humorous effect in the story. It demonstrates that by making fun of Bill’s cries, Sam is not only insulting Bill, but trivializing Bill’s fear of Johnny and not fully comprehending the terror that Johnny is capable of inflicting. It further emphasizes the unexpected that Johnny, a ten-year-old abductee, has become the aggressor while Bill, a grown man and a seasoned criminal, has become the victim. It also contributes towards changing the readers’ reaction, that instead of feeling scared for Johnny, they start sympathizing with Bill. Another example of visual imagery is when Bill falls in the fire after Johnny hits him with a rock, and Sam “[goes] out and [catches Johnny] and [shakes] him until his freckles [rattle]” (p. 74). This comical exaggeration draws the reader into the scene and makes them envision how hard Sam is shaking Johnny, generating a humorous tone in the story. It also illustrates that both Bill and Sam are becoming increasingly frustrated with Johnny and this is important because it is this continued and growing exasperation that advances the plot and causes the men to not only lower their ransom from two thousand to fifteen hundred, but also end up paying two hundred and fifty dollars to Johnny’s dad. It further serves to elicit empathy in the reader for the plight of Bill and Sam, as the reader understands what they must be going through. Certainly, the author’s use of imagery not only produces a humorous mood, but also helps to develop the characters and further the plot.

To conclude, O. Henry makes his writings more enjoyable through the powerful use of situational irony and imagery. Employing situational irony allows the author to challenge the readers’ predictions and add humor during the unexpected turn of events, making them laugh. Utilizing imagery adds depth to his writing and serves to induce empathy from the reader, even as he makes the situations lighthearted. Both these devices improve the readers’ comprehension of the characters’ personalities, interactions, and motivations. Ultimately, the special gift of O. Henry is his ability to play with the readers’ expectations and surprise them, which results in the word ‘ransom’ in the story becoming the opposite of what it literally means.

Well-written poetry has the ability to stir up deep emotions, plumb the depths of the human conscience, and even cause for reflection on existence itself. The usage of many literary devices contributes to the greatness of a poem and determine the impact it has, as can be seen in ‘Nature’ by Henry W. Longfellow. Longfellow implies a fleetingness to life and a lack of understanding in the human race; that nature herself is the all-knowing mother gently guiding humans through this life to the next. Longfellow aptly uses literary devices such as metaphor, personification, and diction to reveal the theme of nature.

Most prominently, Longfellow uses the literary technique of metaphor. He utilizes this device by embedding a deeper meaning to real-life instances in the words of the poem. In the first part of ‘Nature’, the octave, a loving mother guides her agreeable child to bed; however, the child balks on being obedient, but proceeds to follow his mother and leave behind his broken toys on the floor: “Leads by the hand her little child to bed/ Half willing, half reluctant to be led” (2-3). The metaphor reveals the theme by underlining the poet’s perspective on nature. The sestet follows nature’s role in guiding humanity through life and ultimately to death. The belief in the afterlife is not enough of a certainty to make humanity welcome death regardless of the all-powerful authority of nature, but humankind still follows because humanity is vulnerable and needs a helping hand in its moments of reluctance. Therefore, Longfellow uses metaphor as a literary device in his poem ‘Nature’ to explain the theme.

Another literary device Longfellow uses is personification. He employs this technique by establishing nature as a mother figure and that it plays the role of a guiding entity. In ‘Nature’, Longfellow goes through the notions of life and the nostalgic aspect of looking back on it. In the poem, he describes how nature gently removes one’s valued aspects of life: “So nature deals with us, and takes away/ Our playthings one by one and by the hand” (9-10). ‘Playthings’ resemble the comforts and distractions of adolescence. The harsh reality one must face is that the items and memories that once meant so much will not always be there to cherish due to time. Nature, like a mother, will act as a healing influence that prepares one for the inevitable end. Longfellow uses personification to bring forth the idea of nature as a mother figure that guides us through the pathways of life.

A final literary technique Longfellow uses is diction. He masterfully crafts nature to be stirring and impactful through emotional words that convey similar meaning and build on each other. As he explains the mother taking her child to bed and as he is describing nature, Longfellow uses several sets of positively-connotated words. Words and phrases such as ‘child’, ‘by the hand’, ‘mother’, and ‘leads… gently’ undoubtedly refer back to nature’s role as mother to humans. Adjectives like ‘fond’ provide realizations of love that a mother might bring. Longfellow’s theme is multifaceted, not only suggesting a gentle, mother-like firmness in nature but attributes childish, immature oblivion to humankind. He emphasizes this through words and phrases such as ‘playthings’, ‘full of sleep’, and ‘gazing [at playthings]’. Longfellow depicts the transition through the phases of life to death as guided by Mother Nature acutely and kindly through his words: he acknowledges the apprehension one might have in regards to change while setting a calm tone through his diction intended to pacify and provide reassurance for what is to come.

Through metaphor, diction, and personification, Longfellow spins a deeply impactful poem. He conveys how humans’ eyes are clouded over by sleepy oblivion, unknowing and guided through their lives and purposes by gentle Mother Nature. Inherently timeless, Longfellow’s message stands true and will remain so for generation after generation: nature will continue to execute her plan for every last body on Earth.

During the late 1800s women and men were not equal, they lived in a society where women were defined as housewives and were expected to take care of their children and husbands for the rest of their lives. The issue connects with the experience of the narrator in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, focuses on. Gilman’s main reason for creating this story was to make individuals understand the roles in society during this period and to prevent people from being driven into insanity, such as the woman in the story did. The Yellow Wallpaper heavily focuses on a woman who is forced into societal roles and the powerful theory of femininity during the late 1800s. The narrator of the story is mentally destroyed by the rest cure her husband, John, has prescribed for her. She is forced into isolation in one room and feels imprisoned, as she is not allowed to have any contact with other individuals and her husband forbids her to even write in her journal; eventually leading the woman into madness. The story is told from the perspective of the narrator, but by doing this it makes it clearer to describe the emotions of postpartum depression and the reality of her experience. Gilman implements detailed dialogue, symbolism, infantilization, and gender roles to make the reader understand the struggles of women during the late 18th century.

Dialogue is one of the most important aspects throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, as it inspects the crucial elements that hide within it from the perspective of a woman. In the article, “Revealing Character through Dialogue” by author and professor at UC Davis, Jennifer Ellis explains, “All of these speaking tendencies combine to reveal character, such as whether the person is introverted or extroverted, forceful or timid, kind or unkind,, honest or dishonest and excitable or calm. It helps to reveal where they are from, and their past experiences” (13). During this period when this was written Gilman implements two different perspectives of views and personality of the character by choosing to use specific dialogue, she presents the first perspective being the traditionalist side, falling into the stereotypes where a woman should always be submissive toward all men. The idea is present in the line when the narrator states, “I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!” (Gilman 11). It is comprehensible that the narrator believes her husband views her now as an annoyance because of her illness, along with the fact she is now unable to fulfill her duties as a woman and wife. She continues to express her opinions on how much she dislikes the wallpaper inside the room, yet her husband refuses to allow her to change it. The narrator then believes she is at fault for these actions even though her husband is the one who forces her to stay inside the room that drives her crazy as she is ill, yet the situation can easily be resolved as the narrator could simply change the wallpaper or move locations in the house, but her husband has total control over her and does not respect her emotions. The other womanly perspective is the solution to the compliant ways a woman is expected to be. The narrator then reveals, “I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘despite you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gilman 55). As the story concludes this dialogue is meant to express the freedom a woman was able to obtain during this time when she gained the confidence to break free from her issues. She is free from the trapped emotions she once felt toward her family and this demonstrates the narrator becoming her person. She can now be interpreted as a courageous woman who Gilman wanted to become a heroic figure by expressing the pain that once lingered with her is no longer. However, not only is dialogue the only component to get a better understanding of Gilman’s purpose, but symbolism is equally important when analyzing the story itself.

The next element of the short story is the crucial symbolism that Gilman uses to explain the obsession the narrator has with the wallpaper. In the journal article, “The Term and Concept of Symbolism in Literary History”, written by American-Czech literary critic Rene Wellek states, “Symbolism in the sense of a use of symbols in literature is omnipresent in the literature of many styles, periods, and civilization. Symbols are all-pervasive in medieval literature and even the classics of realism” (250). Gilman’s story is considered to be realistic because the story she wrote is connected to realistic aspects of life. Throughout the story there is a visible piece of symbolism readers get from The Yellow Wallpaper the narrator is constantly speaking about. The narrator then goes on to say, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out” (Gilman 29). The wallpaper itself represents the emotions of entrapment the narrator seems to feel. She is constantly asking for the wallpaper to be removed, yet despises how her husband intentionally ignores her emotions and well-being. By this happening, it causes her to feel as if she is imprisoned in the room she hates so much. Gilman represents the narrator’s resentful emotions by using this powerful line as she expresses how the narrator begins to feel toward the wallpaper, her husband’s decisions for her, and the now isolated life she is forced to live. As the story continues, Gilman presents the reader with a line that states, “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be” (Gilman 34). The symbolism Gilman projects is the obsession the narrator has with the wallpaper and how it is only growing stronger. The bars she witnesses are trapping her and she has become the woman she is seeing in the wallpaper itself. Gilman’s implementation of this idea expresses how the woman had no control over what goes on in her life. When she talks about the woman, the narrator is indirectly talking about herself and her emotions about the situation she is trapped in. Another pivotal element that makes The Yellow Wallpaper so powerful is the effect of infantilization.

Infantilization is a significant piece in the story which greatly affects the overall thought of it. In the journal, “Language as a Social Reality”, by author at the University of Northern Iowa, Chelsae R. Huot explains language is not only a way of communicating but is also used to define the status of women. Huot reveals, “It is an incredible phenomenon by which our society systemically equates femininity with things like vulnerability, submission, uncertainty, and childhood”(17). The narrator’s husband, John, clearly does not truly understand the seriousness of her illness, nor does he take into consideration her feelings. As a doctor, her husband encourages her to take a rest cure, meaning she would be isolated in her room as a solution to help her get well. She cannot do what she enjoys the most, which is write. She gets to the point where she must write without her husband finding out. It can be acknowledged John treats her as if she is a child when he calls his wife names such as “blessed little goose” and even calls her a “little girl”. He acts as if he is her parent with the names he calls her and the way he treats his wife, he seems to have total control over her life and takes away the things she loves. John manipulates the narrator into thinking he truly cares by treating her this way and as if he is just looking out for her well-being. She believes this is true as she writes, ‘He is very careful and loving,’ in her journal (Gilman 6). The idea of infantilization continues so far until the narrator is then strangely crawling on the floor toward the wallpaper itself as an infant would. The mind of the narrator is confused as she is a woman with an adult mind, while also being a woman with the mental state of a child that her husband has engraved in her. Similarly, another element that impacts Gilman’s point besides infantilization, is societal gender roles.

Gender roles are yet another strong element that plays a major role in the story during this period. In the journal, “Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement”, written by professor Susan M. Cruea at Bowling Green State University, explains during the late 1800s, “A ‘True Woman’ was designated as the symbolic keeper of morality and decency within the home, being regarded as innately superior to men when it came to virtue” (189). During this era, women had no power over anything throughout their lives. They were forced to be obedient toward their husbands. The idea of societal gender roles connects strongly with the life of the narrator and the lifestyle she is forced to adapt to. As the narrator is being driven into insanity due to her illness and is seen “creeping”, indicates that even after the woman may be freed from her husband and home life, she may not be free from society. A woman who wanted to be free such as the narrator cannot do so, because society would not have accepted the idea of an independent woman with her thoughts and opinions. In the narrator’s situation, there is no escaping from her harsh reality. The narrator’s sister-in-law, Jennie, can also be defined as a woman who falls into these gender roles and does not have a mind of her own. Jennie often takes over the role also as an imprisoned housewife, in which she takes care of the narrator’s baby as their nanny and does not express her opinions on anything. John represents the male gender roles in their society during the late 1800s, he is shown as the leader of his family. He is protective in this male-dominated society, as he is considered to be the only rational thinker. John never attempts to truly understand what his wife is going through, he just views her as emotional and does not take her mental health seriously. Any thoughts his wife may have, he disregards and does not allow her to openly think and believes he is never wrong as a man. If John wasn’t so arrogant toward his wife and chose to understand her emotions more, she would not have been driven into insanity.

All of the elements Gilman presents such as dialogue, indirect symbolism, infantilization, and gender roles of the late 1800s, help the audience comprehend the perspective of what a woman of this time went through. The Yellow Wallpaper can be interpreted as a story where a mentally ill woman loses her mind due to her situation, however, it represents all women from that period and makes readers more open-minded to all the struggles and imprisonment they had to live through with no say in anything throughout their lives. Women’s mental health had little to no importance during this era. The Yellow Wallpaper focuses on the idea that if mental health is not taken seriously, there will be a consequence. The human mind can only take so much before something awful occurs. The author uses this story to represent the reality of her own life, along with the struggles through her life that are expressed within her writing. Women’s sanity was very much tested to their breaking points with the way many people viewed and treated them. Gilman’s purpose was to get rid of these expectations of women and open the eyes of women that their lives are worth more than what society labels them. As she expresses this idea, Gilman herself followed her advice and freed herself from her husband to have women see that they can be independent, along with following their dreams and having a mind of their own. She wanted women to get out of dangerous situations in their lives before it was too late. No woman was too weak to defeat the societal roles of a male-dominated society. Gilman motivates women everywhere to focus on themselves and not feel alone, also she creates a piece of mind for them that they can amount to anything they want to do. Having inspiration could have been extremely comforting to these women experiencing this issue, and that is what Gilman successfully achieved.