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Gem of the Ocean Symbolism

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Aaron Papp
Dr. Bell
ENGL 1102
8 February 2013
Symbolism at Its Finest Many authors through time and through this day and age have used symbolism in their works. Critics may say there is too much symbolism in some works. There is never too much symbolism in a work. Symbolism enhances the characters, words, places, and objects to levels that a average work could not reach without the use of symbolism. The more symbolism an author uses, the more attached a reader becomes to the story. Look at August Wilson 's Gem Of the Ocean play. It is loaded with symbolism and has a deep meaning to the story. Every main character has something that symbolizes them. It shows the character 's back rounds and what they have been through. For example…show more content…
Caesar Wilks is practically a dictator in the play because he has a gun and a badge. Julius Caesar had a army to rule with, they had weapons also. Caesar Wilks orders people around, is disrespectful, boastful, and full of himself. Julius Caesar was not all of those things but some of them he was. I think Caesar Wilk 's own people will eventually turn against him, just as Marcus, Junius, and Brutus did against Julius. Caesar Wilks said, "He started running! With the loaf of bread under his arm! I had to shoot him. You can 't do nothing like that and get away with it” (36). That sounds like something a dictator would do. Kill a young man for only stealing a loaf of bread. It 's not right to kill a person for stealing a loaf of bread. Even if it was a eye for an eye society. Wilks had no right to shoot that young man. If lawmen were like that today we would not have a world overpopulation problem. Caesar Wilks has a out of control type dictatorship over the rest of the characters. On the contrary Eli is building a wall starting at the backside of the house. Eli 's wall symbolizes his duty as a care giver for the house and Aunt Ester. He wants to see if he can keep Caesar on the other side of the wall. Eli was Solly 's comrade in the Union Army and the underground railroad in the 1800s. During those times there was no sense of security for Eli. One day things would go as planned and the next he could be caught and killed. Everything he did then was a risk.
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