Gaston Symbolism

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Symbolism in “Gaston” Imagine it is a nice, warm day outside with a slight breeze. Imagine the sound of biting into that sweet, juicy, soft peach you have been craving for days. You just take a bite into the peach, masticating it, and out pops a bug. A cacophonous cough you make; why would you be the one unfortunate enough to get the one with the bug, or maybe not so unfortunate after all. In “Gaston”, a short story by William Saroyan, there is a little girl who visits her father for a couple days, after not even remembering when the last time she saw him was. They both eat a peach, but the father’s peach is not “perfect” because a bug is in it, which he names Gaston. Throughout the story, the father teaches his daughter a lesson about fairness and equalness. There are many symbols in “Gaston” of Gaston representing the father. They both are not “the same” as everyone else, neither Gaston nor the father live in a happy, stable home, and neither of them get upset about what most people consider to be foolishness. …show more content…
Gaston and the father represent not being the same as most people. “[The daughter says] He’s not the same as us” (128)
“[The father replies] Well, not exactly, but he’s the same as a lot of other occupants of peach seeds” (129) Gaston symbolizes more than just the father not being the same as most people.
In the middle of the story, Gaston is symbolizing the father because they are both not in a happy, stable

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