Some Points to Ponder About Symbolism…
●A symbol is a literary technique, meaning that it usually heightens a work of literature, but a piece of literature
need not use it all the time to seem complete.
●A symbol amounts to any object, situation, and sometimes an action, that can stand in for an idea, emotion, character, or
message (theme).
●You can identify a symbol when an object or action continually appears in a work of literature, or becomes the center of
attention, attracts the spotlight.
●Symbols are highly contextual. The situation surrounding the object or action (symbol) determines or influences what the
symbol represents. For example, if you have a crucifix at an eight-year-old girl’s Communion, the crucifix
represents innocence, hope, a religious passage. But if you have a crucifix during an exorcism—when priests try to drive out
demons from a person’s soul—the crucifix represents a battle between good and evil. Here we have the same object, the
crucifix, but it takes on different symbolic meanings, depending on the different situations.
●To identify and explain a symbol, you would likely use—among other skills—your inference strategy.
Read the following scenarios. Try finding the symbol and what it represents.
1. Scenario One
Setting: The hallway of a high school, many boys and girls scatter the place. A young boy approaches the locker of a young
girl.
Chris: Hey…hey…Jessica. Ah…How are you?
Jessica (bashful, looking down): O.K., I guess.
Chris (blinking): I was just wondering something…um…you see (suddenly, Chris takes out a ruby-red rose from his bag)…will
you please take this rose and be my valentine for the dance this Friday?
Jessica (a wide smile surfacing on her face): Oh My Gosh! Sure!
What is the symbol here?
What can it symbolize in this situation (this context) and why?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. Scenario Two
Setting: A little boy, about 5, in a black and white tux, stands next to his father in a cemetery, near a grave.
Jason: Daddy, can I go up to see Mommy?
Father: Sure, son. (He walks Jason to a gravestone.)
Jason (staring down at the dirt before the grave): I miss you, Mommy. (His father gives him a rose. He looks at the rose and
drops it on the dirt before the grave.) Good bye, Mommy. I love you.
What is the symbol here? What can it symbolize in this situation? Why? How can the same object symbolize two
different emotions or ideas?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To identify and analyze symbols, ask yourself these questions:
●What is the object, thing, or action in this particular scene that keeps reappearing or becomes the center of attention?
●What are characters doing with it, or what is a particular detail that strikes you about it?
●What detail does one normally associate with this object or action?
●What is the situation (or context) surrounding the object (between characters, etc.)?
●Put all these answers together and then ask yourself, ‘what is the symbol here and what do you think it represents’?
Symbols in The Bluest Eye
1. Take a look at the boxes below—the Breedlove’s house. First write down answers to the top box.
2. Read between pages 34-36 in The Bluest Eye. While reading, write down any words, phrases or sentences that Morrison uses
to describe this object.
3. Finally, compare your own associations with Morrison’s descriptions to answer the below questions.
The Breedloves’ House
1
At first glance, what type of feelings or memories would you normally associate with this object?
2
How does Morrison describe this object, in assigned pages? (4-5 direct lines)
3
Describe the situation with characters when this object appears.
a. Look at how you answered box one, and the kinds of words Morrison uses in box two. How do they compare?
b. How does the situation or action occurring when the object appears further affect the way you view the object?
c. Consider what you answered in ‘a.’ What does this say about Pecola’s (and her family’s) ability to be what we consider
normal?
d. How does this house, then, represent Pecola and her family’s place in society?
1. Take a look at the boxes below. As before, first write down answers to the top box regarding the symbol marigolds.
2. Then read pages 7 and 206. While reading, write down any words, phrases or sentences that Morrison uses to describe these
marigolds.
3. Finally, compare your own associations with Morrison’s descriptions to answer the below questions.
Symbol and page numbers: _______________________________________________________________________________
1:A At first glance, what type of feelings or memories would you normally associate with this object?
2:How does Morrison describe this object, in these pages?
3: Describe the situation with character(s) when this object appears.
a. Look at how you answered box one, and the kinds of words Morrison uses in box two. How do they compare?
b. How does the situation or action occurring when the object appears further affect the way you view this object?
c. Consider what you answered in ‘a.’ What does this say about Pecola’s (and her family’s) ability to be what we consider
normal?
d. How does this object, then, represent Pecola’s place in society?
*Circle 2-3 important lines that Morrison uses to describe your object. You should share this with your partner.*
*. Using your information about the Breedloves’ house and marigolds, answer these questions:
a.Consider your notes for all two symbols—the house and marigolds. How do all these objects represent Pecola’s status in
society?’ (Consider the quality of these objects as they appear in the novel.)
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b.Between the Breedlove’s house and the marigolds, which object best symbolizes Pecola’s worth in society— how the Master
Narrative views her? Explain with at least one reason. (No wrong answers here!)
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