BLARGH I SAY

Chapter 12: Is that a symbol?

              Well of course it is says Foster. Great. I am not one who enjoys generalities. I like specifics, and being precise. Either you're right or you're wrong, and I hate being wrong. In the world Foster proposes nobody is wrong, but by default nobody is exactly right either. He claims the symbols are open to interpretation, that whatever a symbol means to an individual is right. BLARGH I SAY.

I like my symbols categorized. I understand the need to be unique, and to let everyone have their own opinion, but in this case I can get something totally different from the text then the person whose opinion matters the most on these things – the person giving me a grade and determining part of my future. So this frustrates me a little. One can find a multitude of charts on the meanings of symbols, and typically what the chart says; rain = rebirth, spring = new life, white = pure, is generally true. But now Foster is saying I could be in a lit class somewhere and say, oh yes this white flag in this story is signifying that the enemy is NOT giving up, they are saying, “come at me bro” because to them white is the void and they are daring their opponents to run into it. And this could be correct? When white is supposed to mean surrender? I haven’t read Animal Farm but if it’s not super open to interpretation I think maybe I should. Perhaps I will always prefer allegory over symbolism. No I definitely will, but this chapter was about symbolism so back to that.

I can see symbolism’s advantages. It lets each person imprint a little bit of themselves into the story, making it relevant to them. The white flag that’s so easy to use as an example is a good example again; in America we typically put our heroes, our virgins, in white whether on paper or screen, and our villains in red (or black -just go with it). However in Asia heroes often wear red; it’s the color of bravery. So this is eternally open to interpretation, because I guess no one is wrong, and again no one is right. (I hate that.) One could look at symbols from any angle as symbols are theoretically a circle. Whichever way you look at it, it’s still a circle, but each angle gives you a different perspective depending on your or the circle’s surroundings.

 

Now I suppose you want specific examples of symbols; well you have your classic “undisputables” like Holden’s red hat in Catcher in the Rye symbolizing protection, or beans in The Bean Trees representing a chance for growth, new life. These are used time and time again. What Foster says though is I could look at them in a totally different light, say the beans represent hmm… abandonment because they are plucked or dropped from the tree (essentially their mother) and therefore they still represent Turtle, as she also dealt with abandonment. So am I still right? Even though I disagree with scholars and sparknotes about the symbolism of the bean? Maybe if I always get to be right, open interpretation isn’t so bad after all.