2. What is it? Symbolism is using an object or a word to
represent an idea. Stories incorporate symbolism to help convey
meanings of the story.
3. Young Goodman Brown By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
4. In Young Goodman Brown his wife, Faith plays a very
impacting role as a symbol. The pink ribbons on her cap are
mentioned multiple times, giving her a pure and innocent image.
Goodman Brown views Faith as the good in his life. He has her to go
back to as his reason to be a good man.
5. When Goodman Brown is faced by the devil in the forest, the
situation is relatable to biblical times when Eve is tempted by the
serpent. Ironically, the staff that the devil offers to Goodman
Brown, looks like a serpent at the top of it and gives him an
uneasy feeling. Eventually, he takes the staff and at the moment
his world is flipped upside down. It is the beginning of his view
of everyone being evil, and losing faith in the community including
his wife. The staff represents him losing his faith in
humanity.
6. By:Edwidge Danticat
7. Symbolism can be found in names: Guy: Symbolic of a typical
father trying to support his family. Little Guy: Symbolic of a
typical son, innocent; wants to be like Dad. Lili: Symbolic of
purity, virtue and hope.
8. Symbolism can be found in objects: The fire represents the
burning desire rising in Guys soul to change his sons destiny. He
wanted his own life to be different than his fathers and realizes
that it is not different. He would do anything to change the future
for his son.
9. For Guy the hot-air balloon was his freedom from the pain he
felt from his inadequacies as a father and provider.
10. Symbolism can be found in actions: Little Guy had been
given an important part in the school play. He kept practicing the
lines of his speech and was always worried about forgetting the
lines. This was symbolic of Guys role as the father to provide for
his family. He felt he was not fulfilling his expected duties as a
father because he didnt have a job and he couldnt afford a better
home for them. Guy was able to make the hot-air balloon fly. This
was symbolic of his desire to become a new person; to show that he
was capable of being a better person. His suicide was symbolic of
his freedom from the life that he wanted to escape. Lili said My
husband, he likes to look at the sky. This was symbolic of Guys
dreams for the future.
11. By using symbolism authors can provide deeper meaning
beyond what is actually written. It ties the reader to how they are
feeling. Can you imagine how it would feel to read material with no
added symbolism?
12. Works Cited Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to
Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.