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Essay on symbolism in literature
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This passage in the novel The Bean Trees is complex, symbolic, and significant. It starts with a storm arriving towards Taylor and her friends while they observe the event. A storm can symbolize negativity or a cleansing of emotions. Despite the rainstorm, Taylor and the others are surprisingly in a joyous mood, dancing around with each other. The characters feel a relief from all that has happened, including Esperanza, who attempts to commit a suicide in the previous chapters. On the first few chapters, Taylor’s mindset has been focusing on being independent, but this passage shows a change about her. During their dance, Taylor reflects on how she has never been so happy before, therefore Taylor‘s happiness proportionally relates to her relationships …show more content…
since both helps each other to grow. The rain symbolizes Taylor’s loss of naivety for she learns that being independent is not how an individual become successful and happy. More importantly, one of the novel’s themes, relationship and connection apply in this passage as it shows that the characters are in a good spirit when spending time together. The passage has a plethora of imagery and they create a wild atmosphere that is easy to perceive by readers. Moreover, the passage also implies a little knowledge about the characters. One being that Mattie is an observant person, or even the most among the other characters. “Mattie was counting out loud between the lightning and thunderclaps: six, seven boom!” Mattie pays attention to her surroundings including the natural activity happening around her. Mattie’s observant nature proves her an appropriate character for a “gardener” because what she sees fills her with wisdom, thus helping her guide her friends. In addition, the passage also reveals Taylor’s feelings towards Estevan. Among other people, Taylor is madly in love with Estevan, which gives reasons as to how she acts around him in the past and in the future. It displays how much of an admirable person Estevan is, in terms of what other characters think of him. In conclusion, the passage is rich in meaning and importance to the story. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, uses several different stylistic techniques to further the passage. Kingsolver uses a combination of devices such as hyperbole, onomatopoeia, and simile that touches all human senses to create a strong imagery and possibly immersion for the readers.
“…it broke into hundreds of pieces so that the rain fell here and there from high clouds in long, curving gray plumes.” The hyperbole about the storm produces a wild sense of the surroundings. Kingsolver uses the onomatopoeia and simile to describe appearance and the sound of the storm. The first-person point of view also assists on expressing Taylor’s senses and emotions. In describing Taylor’s feelings for Estevan, Kingsolver combines them into a one complex sentence, which displays the exhilaration that Taylor feels. Most of all the paragraphs’ structure is similar, adding consistency to the passage. The consistency makes it easier for the readers to follow and understand the message and concepts that the author conveys in the novel. Additionally, Kingsolver uses contrast to bring out the mood among Taylor’s group. In the beginning, she makes a deadly ambience with the storm and lightning, yet the characters are very high in spirit and energy to a point in which they dance under the storm. It enhances the characters’ emotion to attract the attention of the readers, which makes it more noticeable just like light being brighter in the dark. Kingsolver also uses this passage as a chance to build up for a shocking event unexpected by
the readers. She begins it with a foreshadowing through the storm because storms can symbolize horrendous events, which is the purpose for the buildup. Kingsolver describes the characters as excited and cheery, but only to end up with a dilemma. The sudden transition from a storm to excitement results the tone to be thrilling. With the ambience of a storm around, they dance and twirl unexpectedly with the thought of being madly in love. Overall, Barbara Kingsolver combines everything she uses to create multiple purpose and meaning of the passage that consists of great values important to the story.
Diane von Furstenberg once stated “I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who could pay for her bills, a woman who could run her own life.” Independence plays a big role in being able to be successful in life. Taylor, a girl that can be described as “different ,” is a person who is a strong believer in doing things by herself. She moved out when she learned how to drive and never went back. She gains a child and soon settles down in Tucson Arizona, where she starts her own life. In the novel The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, there are many obstacles Taylor goes through to set the theme of independence.
The main characters in The Bean Trees are Taylor and Lou Ann. The first chapter is about Missy leaving Kentucky to find a better life. This chapter is written is 1st person, with Missy being the narrator. She is a person that is tired of her boring life, she changes her name to Taylor, and wants an adventure. She leaves home and goes on a road trip across America. Before Taylor began her trip, she stated, ?And so what I promised myself is that I would drive west until my car stopped running, and there I would stay? (Kingsolver 16). She later continued on Tucson, Arizona.
The balance of the individual and community is a prevalent theme throughout The Bean Trees. Kingsolver organizes the book by first introducing us to Taylor's unique individuality and then combining that with the community ideal. The first chapter of the book takes place in Kentucky where Taylor lives with her mother. Through the incidents in Taylor's early life, we come to recognize her strong resolve to be individual. In her book Barbara Kingsolver A Critical Companion, Mary Jean DeMarr agrees with me when she tells us Taylor is "a strong character who usually knows what she wants and what she wants to do and goes about getting and doing it" (45).
Taylor Greer is the protagonist in The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. Taylor Greer lacked a sense of belonging in her hometown in rural Kentucky. She did not want to become the average pregnant girl and yearned for excitement in her life. She decides to start over by
The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.
By extension, the ability of a character to see through clouds is a measure of the character’s ability to see past physical constructs that hamper one’s ability to see truth that is shrouded in mystery. Victor has a strange fixation with the eagle that is capable of “[soaring] amidst the clouds” (110). The creature’s fascination with eagles is linked to their ability to soar among clouds. Shelley uses the juxtaposition of positive and negative diction to emphasize an eagle’s ability to break through the physical. While soar indicates ascension, clouds denote mystery and confusion, two opposite forces: a one-way movement (ascension) and a multitude of directions (mystery).
The Bean trees shows how relationships may lead to hurt and devastation. The book starts out with the fact that Taylor does not have a father because he was not a good person and left them. “And for all I ever knew of my own daddy I can’t say we weren’t, except for mama swearing up and down that he
Didion use of specific diction leads to her expression of the ominous nature of the storm and its unexplainable consequences it has on those it touches. Explicit choice of words throughout such as “uneasy,” “frets,” and “tension” depict the seemingly natural and illogical response one would have toward the Santa Ana Winds.
Firstly, the narrator gives little detail throughout the whole story. The greatest amount of detail is given in the first paragraph where the narrator describes the weather. This description sets the tone and mood of the events that follow. Giving the impression that a cold, wet, miserable evening was in
Dickens exquisitely uses foreshadowing as a tool to give the reader a way to have some kind of idea of the evens to come and the give the reader some kind of knowledge of how the peasants intend to carry their plans of destruction out by using metaphors. The turmoil between the aristocracy and the peasants has been summed up into the metaphor of the storm. This metaphor truly helps the reader have a grasp on the violence and destruction going on at that time because a Revolution, much like a storm, causes demolition to all things around it. This metaphor is used to enhance the reading experience by cluing the reader in on the minor details of the plans of the Revolutionaries, so they are not confused in later chapters.
From the resemblances in human's action to human's mentally, Blum "communicate in an artistic manner" (Gilmore 7) that mesmerizes the readers throughout. Critics claim that "the unpredictable and dangerous storms provides a framework" ("The Stormchasers" PW), that Blum uses "twisters as cunning metaphor for storms of a more human kind" (Tipping). Overall, most literary critics agree that Blum artistic combination of storms and human together "beautifully render" (Kirkus Reviews) the story captive. Following storms "is how [Karena will] find her brother" as brother has an unnatural addiction to storms. Blum states early on that the location of Charles is wherever there are tornadoes as his condition causes him to feel the storms. This representation only sparks the beginning of Blum metaphor; it is later in the story that the reader finds the connection between the characters' actions and what they are chasing. From the beginning, Blum starts the story with a festive, vibe, the cold breeze start to a storm. The phone call from the doctor and the discovery of the Whirlwind contract clouds. The adventure with the storm chasers thunders the novel with excitement of "punch[ing] the core and [arriving] in the bear's cage" (Blum 48). The discovery and flashbacks signify the calm before the storm, the sudden relaxing moment before the finale: the
Through this idea, Trethewey explains how this photograph looks beautiful on the outside, but actually reminds her of all the suffering that happened inside during the storm. The photograph only captures the surface level, while below it is other problems. The ugly parts are hidden behind the beauty to attempt to hide it from others. Trethewey describes the storm that forces her family into the house for days, then moves to describe all the damage the storm has done outside and to her family. A couple lines that truly stand out are, “why on the back has someone made a list / of our names, the date, the event: nothing / of what’s inside – mother, stepfather’s fist?” (Trethewey). Through these lines, Trethewey reveals the abuse that happened in her home during the ice storm. The photograph captures
In “The Storm”, Chopin uses the sudden onset and tumultuous nature of the storm to parallel the affair between Calixta and Alce, as well as the subsequent return to calm that embodies the relationships between the lovers and their spouses. In “The Storm”, Chopin uses the sudden onset and tumultuous nature of the storm to parallel the affair between Calixta and Alce, as well as the subsequent return to calm that embodies the relationships between the lovers and their spouses. In “The Storm”, Chopin uses the sudden onset and tumultuous nature of the storm to parallel the affair between Calixta and Alce, as well as the subsequent return to calm that embodies the relationships between the lovers and their spouses. In “The Storm”, Chopin uses the sudden onset and tumultuous nature of the storm
The terrestrial imagery in this passage develops Baptiste’s character and unfurls the theme of the natural world. The passage begins, “Louise, he whispered. Her name was thick in his mouth.” Using Louise’s sense of hearing, the author creates the image that Baptiste appears to have an alluring demeanor. The adjective “thick” makes it sound like his words are swells of smoke emerging from his throat. Ceasing to offer Baptiste a response, Louise instead chose to focus on how “she could feel a wet heat rising from his body.” The words “wet heat” depict the image of Baptiste's body producing a haze of steam off into the torrid summer air. This reminds me a rainy day when rays of sunlight poke through a curtain of gray clouds and raise water droplets into the sky through
...nguage as an effect of his accidental destruction of a little butterfly. A list to emphasise the text and to create a tense feeling can also be superb. ‘ Can’t we take it back, can’t we make it alive again, can’t we start over can’t we - ‘a key feature to this is repetition. This enables the text to be logged in to the reader’s memory exhausting the matter that it is an important issue. The very last line, ‘There was a sound of thunder,’ creates a heart-throb situation wanting the reader to empathise the death of the main character – Eckels.