The symbol of the lion represents everything in the short story “A Lion on the Freeway”. It was written by Nadine Gordimer in her short story book called The Embrace of a Soldier. Gordimer was an African writer, and her stories have been translated into many languages including English for many people to enjoy.
The story “A Lion on the Freeway” is about a lion which has escaped onto the freeway. Gordimer describes the scenery of a town with a zoo in it and how the main character can always hear the animals making noise, especially the lion. This fiercely described story is short, but makes a very important point about the lion in general.
To Gordmer, the lion is a symbol of wild power, and its original home in Africa was also where this author once lived. A popular phrase people hear of the lion is that it is the “king of the jungle”. That single phrase describes the lion perfectly, because the lion is a being of great power and passion and its strength and boldness is recognized throughout the world. In this story, it is contained in a cage, not taken from the wild, but born there. The lion may have been born in captivity, but its wild instincts are definitely still alive within the lion’s spirit. This is why the lion would yearn for a way out of its cage and search for freedom.
At the end of the story, though, Gordimer explains of how the people must capture this lion and stop it once again, if not kill it. Because of its great power and strength, the people are afraid of it and therefor must find a way to stop the lion before he causes damage. This may represent raw human emotions and feelings from deep inside the human race. People cannot let these raw instincts escape to keep order in the world, so then we must keep them locked away inside where no one can see them. Secrecy. As in the lion, these feelings are powerful, but in society instincts must be controlled. However, do people always control their emotions and what they feel at heart? Definitely not, but the public would usually like to think so, except perhaps when it may come to cliches or advertisements (because they ironicly admire those who stand out).
If one does not look at “A Lion on the Freeway” carefully, it seems dull and unimaginative.
The Lion symbolises royalty, the books symbolise wisdom and the golden fur and mane of the lion symbolises power (because gold is usually worn by rich people).
The Pigman by Paul Zindel is a book that has many symbols, and means of those symbols can be explained to the farthest extent. This will talk about some of the many symbols that are used in this story.
people to repress and fear their emotions. Turner finds primal emotions to be necessary to our
The loin in the story has no courage and is seeking courage form the wizard in order for him to be the king of the jungle. He tries to scare people or even hurt them but he cant. The lion creates a direct comparison with William J. Bryant. This is because when William Bryant tried to solve the problem that was going on in the US Treasury by improving the treasury with free gold. Both the lion succeeds in protecting his forest and so does Bryant by receiving a higher rank in office, and becoming more popular.
The lions also show the anger of the children. The lions were big, scary and predators in the story. The nursery and the house itself are a big part of the story as well. They symbolise that technology can take over our lives and make them worth nothing. The purpose of using symbolism and repetition in the story is to show that our minds can be one of the most evil places on earth.
Yvain the knight of the Lion, like most medieval tales is a coming of age story. The young, careless thrill seeking Yvain is transformed into a adult and a king that assumes responsibility while taking care of others. This transition can be credited on part to the Lion he encounters on his journey.
Animals are often used by authors of novels and short stories as literary symbols. In "Greenleaf," a short story by Flannery O'Connor, a bull is used to represent Jesus Christ. O'Connor does this according to how the bull looks, how it is rejected, and how it seems to offer grace to Mrs. May.
A symbol is a unique term because it can represent almost anything such as people, beliefs, and values. Symbols are like masks that people put on to describe their true self. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author uses Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley to represent a mockingbird which illustrates the theme of innocence by presenting these characters as two harmless citizens that do not pose a threat to Maycomb.
I have never had a brother, but if I did, would I look up to him or would he look up to me? This question comes to mind when I read James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis," Hurst's short story is realistic fiction, but it seems as if it's non-fiction. "The Scarlet Ibis" is about a boy and his crippled younger brother. Brother wants a younger brother, but when Doodle turns out to be crippled, he tries to teach him how to walk, swim, run, and fight out of his own selfishness. Along the way, both Brother and Doodle feel may conflicting emotions. In the end, these conflicting emotions lead to the unfortunate death of Doodle. Hurst uses symbolism to reveal the conflicting emotions of both Brother and Doodle.
Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion is a text that is given new meaning when viewed from differing perspectives. Readers approach the text with their own unique past and experience, which influences their perception and interpretation of the novel. Two such interpretations are the Post-Modern and Post-Colonial readings of In the Skin of a Lion. These two readings give the text more dimension, and with the awareness that this novel can be interpreted in numerous ways, a reader's understanding is strengthened and deepened.
Once while hunting for boar with Arab Maina, Arab Kosky, and her dog, Buller, Markham comes face to face with a dangerous, lone lion. In this section, Beryl is extremely descriptive and recalls the memory in a fashion that allows the reader to see the events unfolding through her eyes at a lifelike pace. “Buller and I crouched behind them, my own spear as ready as I could make it in hands that were less hot from the sun than from excitement and the pounding of my heart.” (Markham 87), depicts Beryl’s thrill at the possibility that she may go toe-to-toe with the lion. This excitement outweighs her fear of injury for herself; however, she restrains Buller, as to prevent him from trying to sacrifice himself in the conflict.... ...
Looking through the thick pines, Apollo stops and points his tail. His mouth is bearing the ivory-like jaws ready to greet the threat. The stench of death is blowing through the wind. Bruce looks around. First he spots dead carcasses everywhere, then through an opening in the trees all he can see is the gigantic head of a mountain lion mouth dripping with crimson droplets from its fresh kill. The big cat backs away, snapping every branch on the way out. With the adrenaline racing through his veins, Bruce charges through the limbs raising his knife. He gets to where he last saw the beast and then he sees nothing. Not a single track. He kneels down to examine the lions fresh kill. It was a… just then the sensation of knives jabbing into Bruce’s back awakens him from his confused state. The razor sharp claws sink deep into his flesh. Bruce lets out a blood curdling yell as the pads of the enormous feet slide down his back. The only thing Apollo could do to save Bruce is snap at the legs of the mountain lion. As the weight of the giant cat pushing down on Bruce’s back, his legs collapse. The cracking of bone sends shivers up Bruce’s Spine. As he lays there in pain as motionless as can be, he can hear the fight between the cat and Apollo. Bruce cannot move to help Apollo. The snarls and growls rage on for several
In the novel, In the Skin of a Lion written in the year 1987, Michael Ondaatje uses a variety of different themes such as the power of language, the immigrant experience, search for identity and many others to make the novel interesting. Along with these interesting themes Ondaatje makes it more interesting with the novel’s non-chronological order. Identity is what makes up a person by either the description, the actions done by the person or appearance. Ondaatje does a wonderful job of developing the characters’ identity
In 'The Secret Lion'; by Alberto Alvero Rios, the young boys are filled with wonder and fascination about the world. Throughout this story everything in these boys' lives changes.
In the short story “Signs and Symbols,” Vladmir Nabokov entices the reader with the story of a concerned elderly couple who visits their mentally unstable son on his birthday at the sanitarium. This visit is further complicated by the son’s attempt to take his life, which compels the hospital staff at the sanitarium to prevent the parents from meeting their son. This circumstance then embarks on the difficult journey that life has been for this mother and father of their mentally deranged child. Nabokov provides a touching story to his readers and does this through: the illustration of the characters, the setting, and keeps the readers interest by presenting the story in a suspenseful way that it leaves the reader thirsting for more.