Essay on Importance of Symbols in “the Thing in the Forest”

The first instance that symbolism occurs is when the author uses Gaston, a bug that is found in a peach, who describes the father. “What’s he saying?” asks the daughter. The father replies “Well he’s a little confused. Now inside that house of his he had everything in order.” This excerpt from the story illustrates that Gaston is used to symbolize the father, and that he had his life all together, and now it has fallen apart. Another instance of symbolism occurs when the father explains “It’s where he [Gaston] used to live. Gaston is out in the world and on his own now.” The daughter then asks “He had everything, now what has he got?” The father answers with “Not very much I’m afraid.” These quotes symbolize the father is losing everything, like the bug, and does not have much money. The father takes into consideration of how he can relate to the bug. For example, he is on his own, with nobody close to him. The symbolism of the bug from the peach used in these quotes emphasizes that the father in this story does not have very much, and is lonely, yet he still can see the worthy in things. This description can relate to how he has an impact on his

The image of the rooms used in the story has a main contribution to the theme being conveyed. Prince Prospero's abbey consists of seven different and symbolic rooms. The fact that there were seven rooms is symbolic

With no way of showing her feelings and no way of escape, the narrator controls her disappointment and her rage eventually giving way to insanity. The nursery, another important symbol, was decorated with “rings and things.”(Gilman 474). This was the room she was confined in. This room was possibly used to represent the way nineteenth-century people viewed women, as children. The nursery contained barred windows which could be viewed as the emotional, social, and intellectual prison women of that era were kept in. “At night the pattern in the paper becomes clearly bars, like the bars on the windows, and the woman in the wallpaper becomes plainly visible, imprisoned behind the bars at night, just as the young woman imagining her feels imprisoned.” (Kivo 51).

The main symbolic imagery in the story happens one day when Penny and Primrose decide to go and wonder in the forest just like any other curious and adventurous little child does. To a place that would seem like a mystery or just fun to go and look at. As they are in the forest wandering around they come into contact with a Thing, a thing they’ve never seen, smelled, or heard before. They see this thing it’s a worm-like monster gliding through the forest leaving tails of smile and it’s such a horrendous sight that they never forget it. All the descriptions lead up to the bigger picture of what the Thing really represents in the story and what back ground it has to tell.

Skimming the surface of the story, an abundance of symbols can be signaled out, but a recurrence of symbols is very important. One of the most prevalent symbols found in this story is the darkness of Senora Consuelo's old colonial mansion. The house is so dark the characters must learn to maneuver by sound and touch. The darkness sets the tone for the whole story. Senora Consuelo's room is not bathed in light but filled with "perpetual

b) This play has several strong themes. Identify one of them. How does the symbol of the house contribute to the theme? Support your answer with two references to the play.

“The Thing in The Forest” by A. S. Byatt is a short story that takes place in London, it is about two girls who were send away by their parents with no clue why they were send, is it a punishment or vacation. The two girls become friends as soon as they met each other and they were always together and did not want anyone to be friends with them because when Alys wanted to be friend with them they did not let her become their friend. One day when they went to the forest they did not let Alys some with them and that’s when she disappeared in the forest and nobody knows why and how she disappeared. When you read the whole story “The Thing in The Forest”, you will start questioning yourself these questions the following questions: do the thing is really exist or the two girls are imagining it? Did the boys that the girls named them ‘the gang’ did something bad to Alys and the two girls witnessed it or was it a soldier? Was Alys doing something bad or witnessed something that caused her death?

The novel is primarily about a woman who struggles in her search for self while trying to reconcile her beliefs with those imposed on her by society and the men in her life. Important symbols in the novel include, the horizon, hurricane, Porch, Janie’s hair, gates, the pear tree, Land ownership and wealth, Janie’s overalls. All of the symbols provide the reader with clues as to how and why Janie’s grows and developments into the person she becomes by the end of the novel. Horizon symbolises Janie’s life long search for happiness. Pear tree indicates that Janie is maturing sexually and mentally and her interest towards love and romance is increasing.

The lake in the novel, In the Lake of the Woods, symbolizes the concealed secrets of John’s past. Lakes are very mysterious things; the surface of the lake can be seen for miles, however, underneath the surface there is so much uncharted area that a person is unable to see. The deeper you travel into the depths of the lake, the darker it gets, fore the light of the sun doesn’t reach these areas. These characteristics of the lake exemplify secrets a person, especially those of John. The deep depths of the lake are the dark secrets John tries so hard to conceal and the light illuminating the shallow parts of the water is the part of himself he allows people to see.

An object portrayed in a story can have different interpretations from our own knowledge. Symbolism is prevalent in all stories and the author places them to give the reader an underlying deeper meaning. They contribute to the themes and main ideas while adding context to the story. In Kelly Link’s book, Pretty Monsters is a symbol that persisted in every story, however the symbol displayed itself in many different aspects. The moral of the symbol addressed that not everything presented in front of someone is how they actually seem, which deceives the reader. In the story, The Cinderella Game, it presented a contradicting and chilling twist to the title because of the character Darcy. While identifying Darcy, she seems to be a spoiled child

Throughout the book the author incorporates symbols that tie in with the theme and symbols that connect the book into a whole. For instance, Knowles describes two rivers at the beginning of the book. As the story unravels, the meaning behind the rivers is vaguely revealed. The muggy, dirty river represents the harsh war. It represents adulthood. Meanwhile the clean Devon river represents the peace and fun the boys have at their school, at home, away from the war. The river represents boyhood. The time period in which these young boys are free from the war. The authors technique when revealing the meaning behind the river requires the reader to look deeper into the story, which is one of the many reasons why I strongly believe this book should

Perhaps the most obvious symbol in the novel is the fire. The fire represents hope for humanity. The papa and son really charishes the term ¨the fire¨ because he thinks the fire is like hope and sometimes can bring advantages and disadvantages.. The father proves this point when he says, ¨And nothing bad is going to happen to us. That's right. Because we're carrying the fire (McCartney 42).¨ The fire can bring advantages like when they found a bunker with a big food supply. The fire can also bring disadvantages like when they almost got caught by the bad guys.

The little girls observed, with horrified fascination…” The excerpt above displays just one symbol that is found within this story. The “thing in the forest” the two girls, Penny and Primrose, come upon can be symbolized as war

This has an extraordinary effect on the readers because Hawthorn is giving them a mental picture of how scary the forest is which might be how Hawthorn imagined it when he wrote this story. As a result, he awakens his readers by making them fear the forest by using phrases such as “dreary” “creep” and “gloomiest” Moreover, using the setting as symbol makes it easier for the author to create the mood of the story, which are gloomy and dark. This shows Hawthorns influence on the reader’s interpretation of the story as a

Blindworms, snakes, newts, spiders and beetles are all insects and animals that terrify or disturb the average human. Some humans keep hedgehogs as pets, thus lowering their scare factor, yet the ‘thorny’ description reminds the reader of their potential for harm and danger. Both Fairyland and its creep creatures have the potential for deception and evil or can be harmless and lighthearted. The key words of “double tongue” and “be not seen,” are especially troublesome as this hints that the terrifying animals of the human world that are not usually seen are present in this world. The animal imagery in this passage depicts a creepier Fairyland that is more of a nightmare than a dream.