The Use of Symbolism Within “The Order of Charlotte’s Going”
Throughout many of Shirley Jackson’s stories, symbols are used to portray a deeper meaning. This can be seen in her short story “The Order of Charlotte’s Going,” where the main idea is that jealousy, and the love of possessions, can make people do terrible things to anybody, even the people who are seemingly closest to them. The symbols used within the story are spiders, which portray Charlotte’s fears and Anne’s plot to kill her; candy, which demonstrates seemingly nice items having the possibility to cause harm, and Anne’s use of Charlotte’s weaknesses against her; and illness, which symbolizes Anne’s jealousy of Charlotte, and Charlotte’s dependency on Anne. These symbols help the story to progress, and create double-meanings that you may not catch during your first read-through. …show more content…
This is clearly shown by Charlotte’s deathly fear of spiders. On page 293, it says, “I shouldn’t have reminded her of the spiders, her face got all sick again and she turned away from me and wouldn’t talk anymore.”(Jackson 293). The two spiders that were sent by Anne, to Charlotte, in the envelope, reveal that Charlotte has an awful fear of spiders, and from thereon, every time that spiders are mentioned, Charlotte’s fear overtakes her for a period of time. A clear representation of what spiders symbolize is Anne’s plot to kill Charlotte. On page 291, it says, “... one ran along her hand and up her arm. I thought she was going right then-and I think it was the first time I ever took the doctor seriously.”(Jackson 291). The spiders were one of Anne’s first attempts at scaring Charlotte to death, and were the beginning of Charlotte’s downfall to her end. From this, it is apparent that within “The Order of Charlotte’s Going,” spiders are used to symbolize Charlotte’s awful fear, and Anne’s plot to kill
Throughout many of Shirley Jackson’s stories, symbols are used to portray a deeper meaning. This can be seen in her short story “The Order of Charlotte’s Going,” where the main idea is that jealousy, and the love of possessions, can make people do terrible things to anybody, even the people who are seemingly closest to them. The symbols used within the story are spiders, which portray Charlotte’s fears and Anne’s plot to kill her; candy, which demonstrates seemingly nice items having the possibility to cause harm, and Anne’s use of Charlotte’s weaknesses against her; and illness, which symbolizes Anne’s jealousy of Charlotte, and Charlotte’s dependency on Anne. These symbols help the story to progress, and create double-meanings that you may not catch during your first read-through. …show more content…
This is clearly shown by Charlotte’s deathly fear of spiders. On page 293, it says, “I shouldn’t have reminded her of the spiders, her face got all sick again and she turned away from me and wouldn’t talk anymore.”(Jackson 293). The two spiders that were sent by Anne, to Charlotte, in the envelope, reveal that Charlotte has an awful fear of spiders, and from thereon, every time that spiders are mentioned, Charlotte’s fear overtakes her for a period of time. A clear representation of what spiders symbolize is Anne’s plot to kill Charlotte. On page 291, it says, “... one ran along her hand and up her arm. I thought she was going right then-and I think it was the first time I ever took the doctor seriously.”(Jackson 291). The spiders were one of Anne’s first attempts at scaring Charlotte to death, and were the beginning of Charlotte’s downfall to her end. From this, it is apparent that within “The Order of Charlotte’s Going,” spiders are used to symbolize Charlotte’s awful fear, and Anne’s plot to kill