Symbolism In The Birthmark And A Wall Of Fire Rising

Symbolism is an important technique in literature that adds depth to a story by taking objects, events, actions, or characters that may seem average on the surface, but when thoroughly analyzed, help create a deeper meaning in the story. Symbolism is a key concept in Nathanial Hawthorne’s, “The Birthmark,” a story of a brilliant scientist and his beautiful yet flawed wife, and in Edwidge Danticat’s, “A Wall of Fire Rising,” a story of a poor family living in Haiti, but both short stories use the technique very differently; one more explicitly and the other more subtlety. First, let’s discuss symbolism in “The Birthmark,” which is extremely obvious as characters often refer to certain objects explicitly as symbols through their speech, actions, and

While our main character is a scientist his experiments lean more towards the magical than they do towards more realistic kinds of science, such as a potion that makes freckles vanish, flowers that die in an instant, and, “Airy figures, absolutely bodiless ideas, and forms of unsubstantial beauty.” (pg. 217). These descriptions give the story an overall magical tone which readers must suspend belief in order to fully accept these concepts, and this allows Hawthorne to be more explicit when referring to the symbols in the story. It’s similar to when a character on tv breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience, acknowledging that they are on a tv show. The second short story, A Wall of Fire Rising,” is set in a more modern setting, and doesn’t have the characters explicitly referring to the symbols but rather presents these symbols to the reader by repeating imagery so the reader knows that it’s important. Because the story is focused on the struggles of the poor and disenfranchised people living in Haiti the dialogue reflects this and stays