Lesson 1.7 · Unit 1 · RL.9-10.4
When an object stops being only an object
A symbol is a thing in the story that also means something beyond itself. The difficulty is that any object can be claimed as a symbol of anything, so this lesson is mostly about how to tell a real one from an invented one.
- A symbol is something concrete that carries an abstract meaning while remaining fully itself in the story.
- A motif is a recurring element that gains meaning through repetition rather than by standing for something from the start.
- An allegory is a whole work in which most elements correspond to something outside it, which is rarer than students assume.
- Three signs of a genuine symbol: it recurs, it is given emphasis the plot does not require, and the meaning it suggests fits the story's other concerns.
- Symbols must work literally first. A ring that means commitment is still a ring, and a reading that ignores the literal level usually goes wrong.
- Conventional symbols carry meanings a culture already supplies, such as spring for renewal, and a writer can use or deliberately invert them.
- Over-reading is the standard error, and the corrective is to ask what the text does to mark this object out from the others around it.
- A symbol's meaning is usually a range rather than a translation, so the goal is to describe what it gathers rather than to give a single equivalent.
Where students lose marks: asserting that an object symbolizes something without showing that the text marks it. Quote the emphasis, or the repetition, or the placement, and then argue.
The text. Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour", 1894, and Edgar Allan Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado", 1846. Both public domain.
She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.
Step one: test the window against the three signs. Does it recur? Yes: she sits facing it, looks through it repeatedly, and the whole realization happens in front of it. Is it emphasized beyond plot need? Yes: the plot requires only that she be alone, and Chopin gives the view four sentences. Does the meaning fit? Yes: the story is about an enclosed life glimpsing an open one.
Step two: state what it gathers rather than what it equals. The window is the boundary between the room she is shut in and the world she is looking at, between the life she has had and the one she suddenly wants. Saying it "symbolizes freedom" is too narrow; it is the threshold between two conditions.
Step three: check that it still works literally. It is an actual window in an actual room and she is actually looking through it, which is what lets it carry the second meaning. A symbol that has stopped being the thing it is has become an abstraction.
Step four: work the conventional symbol. Spring for renewal is a meaning the culture already supplies, and Chopin uses it straight rather than inverting it. Because the meaning is conventional the reader gets it immediately, which is how she can establish so much in a story this short.
Step five: notice the clouds. The blue shows "here and there through the clouds". Not a clear sky: an opening. That detail is doing precise work, because what Louise glimpses is a possibility rather than an achieved freedom, and the weather says so before the plot does.
Step six: turn to Poe and consider the Montresor coat of arms. A foot crushing a serpent whose fangs are in the heel, with the motto that nobody wounds me with impunity. It recurs in dialogue, it is given emphasis the plot does not need, and its meaning fits exactly. It passes all three tests.
Step seven: state what it gathers. It is a family self-image of retaliation presented as justice, and it is also a picture of mutual destruction, since the serpent's fangs are already in the heel. Montresor quotes it as a boast and it describes him being bitten while he stamps.
Step eight: demonstrate the over-reading error. Claiming that Fortunato's jester costume symbolizes the folly of pride is defensible, since the text emphasizes the bells repeatedly. Claiming that the trowel symbolizes the Freemasons' betrayal of Fortunato is not, unless you can show the text marking it, and here the trowel is produced once as a joke about masonry. The difference is entirely in whether the text does the marking or the reader does.
Questions 1 to 5 are recall. Questions 6 to 10 ask for reasoning.
- Define a symbol.
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Something concrete that carries an abstract meaning while remaining fully itself in the story
- Distinguish a motif from a symbol.
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A motif is a recurring element that gains meaning through repetition rather than standing for something from the start
- Name the three signs of a genuine symbol.
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It recurs, it is emphasized beyond what the plot requires, and its suggested meaning fits the story's other concerns
- What is a conventional symbol?
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One carrying a meaning the culture already supplies, such as spring for renewal
- Why must a symbol work literally first?
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Because a symbol that has stopped being the thing it is has become an abstraction
- Test the window against the three signs.
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It recurs: Louise sits facing it, looks through it repeatedly, and the entire realization happens in front of it. It is emphasized beyond plot need: the plot requires only that she be alone, and Chopin spends four sentences on the view. And the meaning fits: the story is about an enclosed life glimpsing an open one, which is exactly what a window is between. All three tests pass. It recurs, receives four sentences the plot does not need, and matches the story's concern
- Why is "the window symbolizes freedom" too narrow?
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Because a symbol usually gathers a range of meaning rather than translating into one word. The window is the boundary between the room she is shut inside and the world she is looking at, between the life she has had and the one she suddenly wants, and between what is expected of her and what she feels. Reducing that to "freedom" throws away the sense of threshold, which is what a window specifically contributes. It is a threshold between two conditions, which "freedom" alone does not capture
- What precise work do the clouds do?
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The blue shows "here and there through the clouds" rather than filling a clear sky, so what Louise sees is an opening rather than an open expanse. That matches her situation exactly: she glimpses a possibility, not an achieved freedom, and the possibility is partial and intermittent. The weather states the story's condition before the plot reaches it, which is a detail easy to read past. Patches of blue through cloud signal a glimpsed possibility rather than an achieved freedom
- Explain what the Montresor coat of arms gathers.
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A foot crushing a serpent whose fangs are in the heel, with a motto that nobody wounds him with impunity. Montresor quotes it as a boast about retaliation presented as justice. It is also a picture of mutual destruction, since the serpent's fangs are already in the heel while the foot comes down, so the image says that the avenger is bitten in the act of avenging. He recites it without hearing the second meaning. Retaliation dressed as justice, and mutual destruction he does not notice
- Give one defensible and one indefensible symbolic reading of Poe's story, and state the
difference.
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Defensible: Fortunato's jester costume signals folly, since the text returns to the cap and its bells repeatedly, including in the final line, which is emphasis beyond plot need. Indefensible without more: claiming the trowel stands for Masonic betrayal, since it appears once as a joke about masonry and the text does nothing further with it. The difference is entirely whether the text does the marking or the reader supplies it. The bells recur and are emphasized; the trowel appears once, so only the first is marked