The Power of a Symbol in The Yellow Wallpaper, The Glass Menagerie and The Lottery

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Years ago, Sister Mary Corita Kent, a celebrated artist and educator of the 1960’s and 1970’s stated, “A painting is a symbol for the universe. Inside it, each piece relates to the other. Each piece is only answerable to the rest of that little world. So, probably in the total universe, there is that kind of total harmony, but we get only little tastes of it” (Lewis "Quotes from Women Artists"). Nowadays, a painting is not the main form of art humans appreciate. In fact, literature of all sorts can be considered a different form of art and often found in literature are symbols. A "symbol" is an object, person or action which represents an abstract idea (Warren “English 102”). In literature, a symbol or set of symbols can have a wide range of meanings. For example, color is a universal symbol; some may say it is a general symbol for life. However, each color separately can symbolize something different depending on the context. Analyzing five piece of literature for symbolism, one will be able to gain a deeper understating of symbols.

To begin, the short story by Charlotte Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” uses the deteriorating wallpaper to represent the narrator’s failing mind. The narrator is suffering and is confined in an uncomfortable house in a room she did not choose; she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper of the room. As the yellow wallpaper represents the narrator’s mind, the statement made by the narrator, “The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others” refers to the condition of her mind by suggesting her condition is revolting and unclean. She is fading away in the su...

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...at could these five pieces of literature possibly have in common?’ The answer to this question is very simple, these pieces of literature each possess symbolic colors that represent something different. Yellow wallpaper represents a deteriorating mind, a shabby, black box represents a gruesome, sacrificial death, green is the physical representation of power and wealth in society, a mixture of blue and yellow represents the confusion of a clear sky with dead grass and ‘Blue Roses’ and Blue Mountain represent the longing someone feels for something they can never have. Perhaps a paining is not the only symbol for the universe. Perhaps every piece of literature is related to each other in such a way that by reading each piece of literature, one can connect the different symbols an author chooses to use and recognize the complex harmony that binds the literature world.

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