Symbol and Irony

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Symbol and Irony

• Carson

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COMPRESSION

• !  Compression in a short story means that as
  much as possible is said using as few words as
  possible.
• !  Ambrose Bierce, a famous American short story
  writer, refused to write novels because he said
  that they were just short stories with padding.
• !  In a compressed story, not one word is wasted
  therefore, each and every word in a short story
  is significant.
• !  The reader should ask herself why the author
  chose to use the words he did.
• !  Because of compression, symbols are often used
  in short stories because they bring in a range of
  meanings with just one word.

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LITERARY SYMBOL

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• !  A symbol is a word or association that means
  more than what it is. It is an object, a
  person, a situation, an action, or some other
  item which has literal meaning in the story, but
  suggests or represents other meanings as well.
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LITERAL MEANING

• The literal meaning of a word may be thought of
  as its dictionary definition.
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FIGURATIVE MEANING

• The figurative meaning of a word may be thought
  of as all the things that can be associated with
  that word.
•  
• !  Examples The LITERAL meaning of a dove is
  a bird, usually white in colour.
• !  The FIGURATIVE MEANING of a dove is
  ____________ .
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NAME SYMBOLISM

• !  In The Japanese Quince Mr. Nilson can be
  thought of as Nils son or the son of nothing.
  This adds greatly to the story as Mr. Nilsons
  life is certainly meaningless.
• !  Whether the author intended the names to be
  symbolic or not, they certainly fit and add to
  the stories with which they are associated.
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SYMBOLIC OBJECTS

• !  It is often difficult to pick out symbolic
  objects because they fit so naturally into the
  story, but sometimes they are central to the
  story and a failure to understand the symbolism
  results in a failure to understand the story.
• !  Symbols can either add to the meaning of a
  story or they can carry meaning of their own.
• !  Do not assume that every object has a symbolic
  meaning.
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FINDING SYMBOLS

• !  The following rules should be observed when
  one is attempting to find symbolic meaning in a
  story
• 1.   The story itself must furnish clues that a
  detail is to be taken symbolically. Often
  symbols are repeated, emphasized or strategically
  located.
• 2.   The meaning of the symbol must be supported
  by the whole story. Symbols cannot be
  transferred from one story to another. Symbols
  add to the story.

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FINDING SYMBOLS, continued

• 3. A symbol must suggest a meaning which is
  different form its literal one. Do not use the
  word symbol to describe something which is
  merely an example or evidence of something else.
  For example, the conch in Lord of the Flies does
  NOT symbolize a bumpy, white shell.
• 4. A symbol may have more than one meaning. It
  may suggest a variety of things. The more the
  better as long as the suggested meanings fit the
  context of the story. The Quince tree, for
  example, has a huge range of symbolic meanings.
  It would be wrong to hold it to only one.

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IRONY

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• !  It is difficult to define the word irony.
  Generally it is thought of as a contrast between
  two things, where one term mocks the other. Do
  not confuse it with sarcasm, however, which is
  merely language used to cause pain.
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Verbal Irony

• !  A figure of speech in which the opposite is
  said from what is intended. There is a
  discrepancy between what is said and what is
  meant.
•   An example of verbal irony is ___________
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Dramatic Irony

• !  There is a contrast between what a character
  says or thinks and what the reader knows to be
  true.
•   For example, when we are told that
  Fredricks mother often revenged herself on him
  in small ways, and that Fredrick could feel how
  just this was, we know that it is not just
  that Fredrick be the victim of vengeance. There
  is a difference between what we know is true and
  what the character thinks. Another example is
  __________________________________________________
  _ .

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Irony of Situation

• !  There is a discrepancy between appearance and
  reality, expectation and fulfillment, or what is
  and what seems appropriate.
•   For example, it is ironic that two children
  should be most happy when they seem to be
  ignoring one another, or that a rebel giving the
  enemy leader a shave should be far more nervous
  than the man in the chair who expects to have his
  throat slit.