Symbolism In Literature

Improved Essays
Many pieces of literature have different literary terms like themes, plots, and symbols all in one story. In these poems and story, they all show symbols in their stories. Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character (“Symbolism”). Different types of symbols include the color pink representing love, a crow could represent death. “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Traveling Through the Dark” by William Stafford, and “The Lottery by Shirley Jackson” all show a symbol of loss in different ways. To begin with, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar is a story about people who hide their true emotions behind masks. …show more content…
This poem displays the loss of life by one’s own hand. An overview about this poem says “Cory kills himself for some unspecified reason, perhaps a spiritual emptiness or alienation from his fellow human beings” (“Explanation of: “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson”). This quote explains how Richard Cory just took his own life for no reason. Mr. Robinson states in his poem “And he was rich- yes richer than a king- and admirably schooled in every grace” (Lines 9-10). This quote explains how Richard Cory had money, had the best education anyone can have, also in the poem everyone wants to be like him because of how well off his life is. Mr. Robinson also states in his poem “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night went home and put a bullet through his own head” (Lines 15-16). This quote just explains how for no reason, Richard Cory put a bullet through his own head. This poem shows that even though Richard Cory had everything and everyone wanted to be like him, he was disconnected form life and ended up losing his life by his own life. This poem shows loss of life by one’s own hand but “Traveling Through the Dark” by William Stafford shows the loss of life in a different …show more content…
The author in this poem gives the character in this poem a tough choice, weather to move the deer off the road into a river, or try to save the fawn in the deer’s stomach. An overview of the poem states “Traveling Through the Dark” focuses on the parallels between physical swerving (line 4) and mental swerving (line 17), between a literal loss of control and a figurative loss of mental control caused by doubt” (“Traveling Through the Dark”). This quote states that the character wants to do one thing, but then all of the sudden wants to do something completely differently. A quote in the poem states “My fingers touching her side brought me the reason- her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting, alive, still, never to be born” (Lines 9-11). The character in the poem has discovered a dead deer on a narrow road with a fawn in her stomach that is still alive. The poem also states “I thought hard for us all- my only swerving- then pushed her over the edge into the river” (Lines 17-18). The character ultimately decides to push the dead deer into the river removing it from the road but also killing the fawn that was in her stomach. “Traveling Through the Dark” show the loss of life as well, but this time it shows it when the character in the poem can kill the fawn or try to save it, its life is taken by

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Soon enough, Richard Cory would kill himself by putting “a bullet through his head.” The reader is left shocked and lost as to what exactly went wrong for Richard Cory. While we do not know what caused this despair, all indications point to the idea that Richard Cory was not a happy…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People often “wear a mask,” hiding their true identity from society in order to cope with difficult or potentially violent situations, or to control society’s perception of them. Because of America’s difficult past, particularly the aftermath of slavery and the fall of the genteel South, this “mask” often appears in American Literature. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is a poem showing the raw pain that was felt in the 1890s, particularly within African American community. Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” is a short story about people who use the idea of the mask to hide their flawed personalities from a judgmental society. Although these two works are from very different times and have different reasons for wearing the…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thesis Statement: In the story, Invisible Man by Ellison and the poem “We Wear the Mask” by Dunbar they both use the theme of masking. Firstly, one can notice the theme of masking in Invisible Man. One example of masking is when the women had to perform for the men.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robinson illustrates the social divide by demonstrating that the townsfolk think of Richard as a royal figure through the use of regal imagery. The clearest example of this come from line 9 in which the narrator says “he was rich- yes, richer than a king-” (Suiter). This allusion to a monarchy implies that there is a clear class division between Richard Corey and the lowly townspeople. There are many other examples of regal imagery throughout the poem.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Richard Cory”, written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, portrays a man’s life story only through the effect of his personality upon those who admire him. The poem is separated into four stanzas, each unfolding a different aspect of the protagonist’s life represented by the townspeople. This poem is devoid of almost any literary elements and figurative language; however, the words themselves still have resonance. By formulating assumptions and opinions of how the other half lives, the “people on the pavement” have put Richard Cory on a pedestal, creating an emotional and social barrier that potentially contributes to his suicide. “Richard Cory” follows the rhyme scheme of ABAB, with ten syllables each line.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “What the Mirror Said” by Lucille Clifton (page 202) narrates a girl convincing herself of her own worth. The repeated line, “listen,” indicates that she’s pleading with herself. The final line, “mister with his hands on you / he got his hands on some / damn / body!” concludes that this woman feels like she’s special and complex, and not “anonymous.”…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The instant where we could turn our backs and walk away from our duties without any direct, personal consequences (except the sense of right and wrong). We get to put ourselves in the speaker 's shoes and ask ourselves what we would do. The action all takes place on a mountain road at night. When a driver stops to pull a dead deer out of the road, he bumps into something unanticipated that makes him contemplate some big problems about mortality and nature along the road of life. In this poem Stafford uses the title, subtle false rhyme scheme techniques, and setting elements to give the poem a feeling of gloominess.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Mask that Veils and Hides Laurence Dunbar’s poem titled We Wear the Mask is a story about genuine human emotion. The poem speaks on the nature of humans. Dunbar uses first-person pronouns to help connect the reader with the emotions he desires them to feel. The main emotion expressed throughout the poem is fear. The fear is of others seeing someone for who they really are inside, and not the mask that they portray.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In his iambic rhythm tetrameter “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Laurence Dunbar conveys the idea, that people hide their most inner feelings through his sad and deceitful tone with the imagery of a mask. The title “We Wear the Mask” is repeated two times in a row at the very beginning of the poem to indicate that the narrator’s view is more than just wearing a mask. This is stated to express a greater importance but it is not yet known as to why people are covering up their faces and if they are choosing to do so. The starting word of the poem is “we” to grasp the reader as if the narrator already knows at one point or another they have worn a disguise as well.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The narrator takes a sudden turn and finishes the poem with “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.” This is significant because Richard Cory was masking his feelings and pretending to look the opposite of what he feels, inside he was possibly hurting and nothing was going okay in his life yet other people thought he was doing well by the way he…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Masks was not just use for custom to be hidden on Mardi Gras or Halloween. It was the way Mr. Dunbar believe African Americans should live there life as they grow and move forward in life after such a tragedy. During a time writer Paul Laurence Dunbar was born into this world by two former slaves in 1872. Which inspired his lyrical poem “we wear the mask” which was featured in Lyrics of lowly life (1896). The poetry sets in post-civil war with a culture including blacks.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Through The Dark

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the poem, “Traveling Through the dark”, by William E. Stanford, the speaker makes the decision to throw the deer he found into the canyon rather than leave him there, and I reason that this was a good decision. First, after he found the deer, in the first stanza, he said, “That road is narrow: to swerve might make more dead.” I think just from reading this line we can conclude that if he were to make the decision of leaving the there, more people could go by on the road and not see it, thus swerving off into the canyon, and it would take many lives. One of which could even be the speaker. In the last stanza, he writes, “I thought hard for us all-my only swerving-,” We come to the conclusion from reading this line, that this exact reason was the cause of him finally making the decision in the end, and doing what is right for the deer,…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    *Richard Cory Poems that are worth reading are ones that establish an awareness of a particular human issue, problem or aspect. They are significant about being a human being and how we are living life or, in some cases, should be. The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson teaches us not to judge a book by its cover. “Richard Cory” is one of the many poems that people can learn from. It is about a man named Richard Cory who is wealthy but quite, a gentleman.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the next scene, the director uses creative structure of setting and symbolism to highlight the main messages/ideas of Carpe Diem and individuality. Throughout this scene, the director introduces the main teacher, Mr Keating, Peter Weir (the director) also develops the main characters more, for the audience to understand them. The film-maker has also chosen to show the ways the students show their individuality. The director has also compared the traditional methods of teaching to Mr Keating 's interesting methods, the audience can clearly understand that the students enjoy Mr Keating 's lessons more, as he teaches reality and useful concepts which can be used in daily life, such as Carpe Diem (Carpe Diem means to seize the day) and individuality, these concepts contradict with…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Last Duchess Theme

    • 2150 Words
    • 9 Pages

    This poem highlights a dark side of death showing that people are so cold and heartless that they are willing to inflict such a tragedy upon…

    • 2150 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays