Symbolism and All That by Crawford
Kilian
Maybe you never got anything out of your literature courses except a
strong dislike for ``analyzing a story to death.'' Sometimes the
symbolic interpretation of a story or poem can seem pretty
far-fetched.
Nevertheless, as soon as you start writing, you start writing on some
kind of symbolic level. Maybe you're not conscious of it, but it's
there: in your characters, their actions, the setting, and the images.
(Some writers are very powerful symbolists, but don't realize it;
that's why authors are often poor critics of their own work.)
You may argue that your writing simply comes out of your own life and
experience, and has nothing to do with ``literary'' writing. Well, no
doubt you'll include elements of your own life, but whether you like
it or not you'll find yourself treating that experience like
gingerbread dough: You'll shape it into a mold to create a gingerbread
man, or you'll have a shapeless mess on your hands.
What you write is really a kind of commentary on everything you've
read so far in your life. If you get a kick out of romance novels, and
you write one based on your own torrid love life which is quite
different from most romances, your novel is still a comment on what
you've read.
This is not the place for a long discussion of the theory of fiction.
You should learn at least the basics of that theory, however, and no
better source exists than Anatomy of Criticism, by Northrop Frye. You
may find parts of it heavy going, but it will repay your efforts by
letting you look at your own work more perceptively, and by enabling
you to develop structure and symbol more consciously.
To paraphrase Frye very crudely, every story is about a search for
identity. That identity depends largely on the protagonist's position
(or lack of position) in society. A tragic story shows a person who
moves from a socially integrated position (the Prince of Denmark, the
King of Thebes) to a socially isolated one (a dead prince, a blind
beggar). A comic story shows a person moving from social isolation
(symbolized by poverty, lack of recognition, and single status) to
social integration (wealth, status, and marriage to one's beloved).
Fiction in the western tradition draws on two major sources: ancient
Greek literature, and the Judaeo-Christian Bible. Both sources are
concerned with preservation or restoration of society, and with the
individual hero as savior or social redeemer. Hamlet wants to redeem
Denmark from his uncle's usurpation; Oedipus wants to save Thebes from
the curse that he himself unintentionally placed on it.
In precisely the same way, the private eye redeems his society by
identifying who is guilty (and therefore who is innocent); the
frontier gunman risks his life to preserve the honest pioneers; the
mutant telepath faces danger to search for fellow-mutants.
Now, you can play this straight or you can twist it. The private eye
may find that everyone is guilty. The gunman may be in the pay of
crooked land speculators. The mutant may find he is sterile, that his
talents will die surface meaning. Winston Smith, in Nineteen
Eighty-Four, is happily integrated at the end of the story, but we
don't share his happiness.
How you use symbols can also undercut or change your apparent meaning.
Let's take a look at some common symbols and patterns, and how they
can comment on your story.
The Natural Cycle
Day to night, spring to winter, youth to old age. These suggest all
kinds of imagery: light=goodness, darkness=evil
spring=hope, winter=despair
girl=innocence, crone=evil knowledge, impending death
Northrop Frye argues that we associate images of spring with comedy;
images of summer with romance; images of autumn with tragedy; images
of winter with satire and irony. Note, however, that here ``comedy''
means a story of social unification; ``tragedy'' means a story of social
isolation; and ``romance'' means a story in which the characters are
larger than life and encounter wonders usually not seen in reality.
Bear in mind that images associated with these cycles are usually all
you need: at the end of Nineteen Eighty-Four, a cold April wind kills
the crocuses that ought to promise hope and renewal. Similarly, autumn
leaves can symbolize an aging person, a dying society, or the onset of
evil.
The Natural Versus the Human World
Desert versus garden
Sinister forest versus park
Pastoral world versus city
In western literature, the journey from innocence to experience is
often symbolized by the protagonist's journey from an idyllic world
close to nature, to an urban world that has closed itself against
nature. (In Biblical terms, this is the journey from Eden through the
desert of the fallen world, to the Heavenly City.) Returns to the
natural world are sometimes successful; sometimes the protagonist
manages to bring the urban world into a new harmony with nature. In
other cases, an urban hero finds meaning and value through some kind
of contact with nature.
The Hero's Quest: Mysterious or unusual birth
Prophecy that he will overthrow the present order, restore a vanished
order
Secluded childhood among humble people in a pastoral setting
Signs of the hero's unusual nature
Journey-quest -- a series of adventures and ordeals that test the hero,
culminating in a climactic confrontation
Death -- real or symbolic
Rebirth
Recognition as savior-king; formation of new society around him
Symbolic Images
A symbol may be good or evil, depending on its context, and the author
is quite free to develop the context to convey a particular symbolism.
For example, the tree is usually a symbol of life--but not if you use
it as the venue for a lynching, or you turn its wood into a crucifix
or a gibbet. Here are some images and their most common symbolic
meanings:
- Garden: nature ordered to serve human needs (paradis
is a Persian word for garden)
- Wilderness: nature hostile to human needs
- River: life, often seen as ending in death as the river
ends in the sea
- Sea: chaos, death, source of life
- Flower: youth, sexuality; red flowers symbolize death of
young men
- Pastoral animals: Ordered human society
- Predatory animals: Evil; threats to human order
- Fire: light, life or hell and lust
- Sky: heaven, fate or necessity
- Bridge: Link between worlds, between life and death
Symbolic Characters
Different types of characters recur so often that they've acquired
their own names. Here are some of the most common:
- Eiron: One who deprecates himself and appears less than
he really is; includes most types of hero (Ulysses, Frodo, Huck Finn).
The term ``irony'' derives from eiron.
- Alazon: An imposter, one who boasts and presents himself
as more than he really is; subtypes include the braggart soldier
(General Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove) and obsessed
philosopher-mad scientist (Saruman, Dr. Strangelove). In my novel
Tsunami, I named my villain Allison; although he starts as a movie
director, he ends up as a braggart soldier.
- Tricky slave: Hero's helper (Jim in Huckleberry Finn;
Gollum in The Lord of the Rings).
- Helpful giant: Hero's helper; in tune with nature (Ents in
TLOR; Chewbacca in Star Wars).
- Wise old man: Hero's helper; possessor of knowledge
(Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi).
- Buffoon: Creates a festive mood, relieves tension (Sam
Gamgee, Mercutio).
- Churl: Straight man, killjoy or bumpkin (Uriah Heep).
- Fair maiden: Symbol of purity and redemption (Rowena) or
of repressed sexuality (any number of Ice Maidens).
- Dark woman: Symbol of lust and temptation (or of natural
sexuality).
- Hero's double: Represents the dark side of the hero's
character (Ged's shadow in Wizard of Earthsea).
Since these images are much older than what is now politically
correct, they can cause problems; readers may see them as affirmations
of old, oppressive social values. However, many modern writers now use
them ironically to criticize, not endorse, the values the images
originally expressed. Nevertheless, be aware that if your heroines
are always blonde virgins and your villainesses are always seductive
brunettes, you may be sending a message you don't consciously
intend.
Be aware also that you're perfectly free to develop your own symbolic
system. Just as the ``Rosebud'' sled in Citizen Kane symbolizes
Kane's lost childhood innocence, you can make a symbol out of a hat
rack, a catcher's mitt, or an old bus schedule. You're also free to
make your symbols understandable to your readers, or to keep them part
of your private mythology. If you associate a catcher's mitt with your
the death of your hero's father, the reader will understand--on some
level--what you're trying to say. If the catcher's mitt seems
important to your hero, but you don't tell us why, we can only guess
at the symbolic meaning.
Don't try too self-consciously to be ``symbolic.'' But if certain
images, objects or events seem to dominate your thinking about your
novel, write yourself a letter about them. See whether they might
indeed carry some symbolic level of meaning, and if that level is in
harmony with your conscious intent.
Except from "Advice on Novel Writing by Crawford Kilian."
About the Author
Crawford
Kilian was born in New York City in 1941. He moved to Canada in 1967
and now resides in Vancouver B.C. Crawford has had twelve science
fiction and fantasy novels published. He has been nominated for an
Aurora Award 3 times for his novels Eyas, Lifter and Rogue Emperor- A
Novel of the Chronoplane Wars. His latest contribution to SF is a
non-fiction book for would-be SF writers called Writing Science Fiction
and Fantasy. Crawford has two more novels in the works.
To learn more about him at Wikipedia.
Crawford Kilian Books at Amazon
