Importance of Symbolism in What We Talk About When We...

Symbols are an essential part of daily life, since they help to express ideas without the need of a detailed explanation; traffic signs informing drivers without short paragraphs being posted in their place, facial gestures expressing feelings without having to describe them verbally, just to name a common couple. Likewise, symbols are a crucial part of a literary work, helping the author subtly incorporate concepts throughout the work. An author will deliberately incorporate a symbol into his or her literary work, which alone would mean nothing, but in context carries out a point the author is trying to make. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a short story about four friends trying to find the true meaning of love, trying†¦show more content†¦Just like an alcoholic has a hard time admitting alcoholism, it is hard for a person in love to accept and fight against a spouse abusing him or her. For example, in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Terri shares her experience in her previous marriage, He beat me up one night. He dragged me around the living room by my ankles. He kept saying, ‘I love you, I love youÂ…, (Carver 763) where she explains how her husband would beat her and abuse her physically, but she still considered it being love. Carver also emphasizes the contradictions within the characters themselves in the story, which illustrates the uncertainty of love, and how there is not a clearly defined approach to understanding it. Returning to the topic of Terris previous marriage, Mel, her current husband, complains about his failure to understand how she could refer to that abusive relationship as love. However, later on when she corrects him while he is talking, he turns to her and asks her to shut up (Carver 767). Another important contradiction which takes place throughout the entire story, is how the four friends are discussing a subject which they all have had bad experiences with, since they have all been divorc ed and remarried. The contradictions throughout Carvers story symbolize how love can also contradict itself, and trying to understand love is impossible since so many particular cases can negate specific examples of love. Moreover,Show MoreRelatedEssay on Araby and Cask of Amontillado: a Comparison1002 Words   |  5 Pagesof another person. I will be talking about and comparing the different elements of each story and their relevance. Both stories take place in different countries. In â€Å"Araby† the story is about a boy from Ireland. The country itself doesn’t have too much importance. The story would be almost the same if the boy was from America. When the main character visits the bazaar is when the setting matters. In this case the setting in not the physical place, but what it represents. The items for sale areRead MoreUnderlying Meanings in Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway1296 Words   |  6 PagesElephants, is a story about a doomed relationship. Hemingway uses symbolism, dialogue, and also setting to tell this story. Behind the words said by the characters, and sights explained to the readers, are hidden meanings that when analyzed, bring the story to another level. Alcohol holds a certain amount of symbolism in the story. The two main characters, Jig, and a man we only come to know as The American are sitting in a bar. The pair order drinks, and they also talk about them. Though theRead MoreCompare And Contrast Thoreau And Walden1424 Words   |  6 PagesOliver are both very passionate about nature and what it has to offer in life, as well as the symbolism behind nature and its creatures in their works of literature, in â€Å"Walden†, and â€Å"The House of Light†, Both authors discuss their views of nature and the beauty of the world that they want to make familiar to their audience. In this essay, I’ll provide my reasoning behind this statement. In â€Å"Walden†, Thoreau talks about his experience living at Walden pond for what he said was two years, two monthsRead MoreSymbolism In Fences By August Wilson1460 Words   |  6 PagesKeep Love in or Lock it Out?: An Analysis of Symbolism in Fences Symbolism is defined as an artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. In Fences by August Wilson, symbolism is used heavily throughout the play in order to represent deeper meanings and add to the emotion of the storyline. In order for the play to have so much depth and emotion, symbolism is crucial to the work itself and the heavy topicsRead MoreComparison Of Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone1075 Words   |  5 Pagesof Hogwarts. With his father’s legacy to fulfill, Albus sets on mission to save Cedric Diggory, in doing so Albus puts all of Harry’s work to defeat Voldemort in jeopardy. Throughout the series J.K. Rowling uses techniques such as: Craft Moves, Symbolism, and Main Idea/Themes. This essay will compare the beginning story and the final story of the Harry Potter Series(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), by their u sage of the previous techniques. In HarryRead MoreEssay On The Relevance Of The Us Constitution832 Words   |  4 Pagesdiscusses the importance of the constitution and how the government has to withhold certain rules, freedoms, and rights of the people in today’s society. o I love this video because the reporters are young students and former President Obama delivers information in a professional and relatable manner. This video helps students make meaningful connections to what they learned in the text to their own lives. After students watch this video, they could act as news reporters and write an article about the dialogueRead MoreNavajo Creation Story Analysis1136 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Navajo Creation Story† There is an enormous amount of symbolism in the Navajo Creation Story. One important symbol is the number 4. The table below lists several aspects of the story that are related to the number 4. Four Mountains Snow capped Four Clans Honaghaahnii, Bit’ahnii, Hashtl’ishnii, Todich’ii’nii Fours Colors White, blue, yellow, black Four Holy People White Body – Talking God Blue Body – Water Sprinkler Yellow Body – Calling God Black Body – Fire God Four calls Voice called 4 times beforeRead MoreModernization of Romance Elements Essay1278 Words   |  6 Pageselements of romance, such as the religious quest, love and adventure and courtly and chivalric life. By modernizing romance, Gaiman suggests that love and loyalty are important values even in today’s society, that courtly and chivalric life are still alive in one way and that, unfortunately, religious quest is not as much valued as it used to be. Gaiman does this by using literary elements such as symbolism, allusion, characterization and irony. Love and loyalty are embraced in romance and in todayRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter Essay1368 Words   |  6 PagesResponse Essay Nan Lei in the critical article, â€Å"A Brief Study on the Symbolic Meaning of the Main Characters’ Name in The Scarlet Letter† (2015), suggests that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to greatly enhance the importance of three of the main characters in his novel. Lei supports her suggestion by talking about the different ways in which each character’s name is symbolic, and how that directly correlates with their characteristics and their actions. Lei’s purpose is to elaborate on the depthRead More Our Town Analysis Essay685 Words   |  3 PagesCorners, New Hampshire. The playwright, Thornton Wilder is trying to convey the importance of the little, often unnoticed things in life. Throughout the first two acts he builds a scenario, which allows the third act to show that we as humans often run through life oblivious to what is actually happening. Wilder attempts to show life as something that we take for granted. We do not realize the true value of livin g until we are dead and gone. The through-line of the action seems to be attention to the