Symbolism In Cornet At Night By Sinclair Ross

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In the short story "Cornet at night" by Sinclair Ross, Tom goes to town and finds a cornet player named Phillip. Phillip is the man that Tom choose from the town to bring back to the farm to stook. In many ways, Phillip is the Jesus symbol in the story. Jesus is the religious symbol of Christianity and God appointed him to aid all the world's people. However, Jesus was banished and sentenced to death and ironically killed by the very people that he came here to save. In the same way so was Phillip. Tom is a young farm boy that went to town to find a person to take back to his parents. Whilst Tom is in the Chinese restaurant he meets a man and can not help but feel attracted to him. Tom expresses this when he says: I presumed for a minute or two an imaginary companionship… and to be with him a little longer [I] ordered lemonade. It was strangely important to be with him, to prolong a while this companionship. I hadn't the slightest hope of his noticing me, nor the slightest intention of obtruding myself. I just wanted to be there, to be assured by something I …show more content…

Just like Jesus, Phillip came to aid people but instead just got tossed aside and sent back to where he came from. Tom brought Phillip to aid the people of the farm, and he did, but to Tom's parents, his help was not sufficient, so Phillip was tossed aside and sent back to where he came from, just like Jesus had been. Tom's father can illustrate this for us when he says, "I'm taking him back to town…He tried hard enough…" (Ross 234). According to Tom's father he tried relativly hard enough, but it was just inadequate so we are taking him back. This is also not fair when it comes to Phillip. Phillip tried hard, but that was still not good enough. Just like Jesus who tries hard to get the people to be enlightened and to embrace God, but was instead punished for it. Thus showing how Phillip and Jesus Christ can, in a way be the same

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