Symbolism And Imagery In 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

The first instance that symbolism occurs is when the author uses Gaston, a bug that is found in a peach, who describes the father. “What’s he saying?” asks the daughter. The father replies “Well he’s a little confused. Now inside that house of his he had everything in order.” This excerpt from the story illustrates that Gaston is used to symbolize the father, and that he had his life all together, and now it has fallen apart. Another instance of symbolism occurs when the father explains “It’s where he [Gaston] used to live. Gaston is out in the world and on his own now.” The daughter then asks “He had everything, now what has he got?” The father answers with “Not very much I’m afraid.” These quotes symbolize the father is losing everything, like the bug, and does not have much money. The father takes into consideration of how he can relate to the bug. For example, he is on his own, with nobody close to him. The symbolism of the bug from the peach used in these quotes emphasizes that the father in this story does not have very much, and is lonely, yet he still can see the worthy in things. This description can relate to how he has an impact on his

Li-Young Lee in this poem concentrated on memories that provide both joy and sadness as they allow us to recall the happy or sad moments with our loved ones as we prepare ourselves for future. Lee examine his emotional relationship to his father in the past with hoping that remembering all those moments will help him integrate those memories with his father into his own life. “Windblown, a rain-soaked bough shakes, showering the man and the boy. They shiver in delight, and the father lifts from his son’s cheek one green leaf fallen like a kiss.” Lee uses images in this poem to show the readers his idea about the memory rather than telling all at once because he thought this way has more emotional impact because

The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said: “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” Li-Young Lee’s poem titled “A Story” poignantly depicts the complex relationship between a father and his son through the boy’s entreaties for a story. He employs emotional appeals as well as strategic literary devices to emphasize the differing perspectives that exist between father and son. Through shifting points of view, purposeful structure, and meaningful diction, Lee adds depth and emotion to the love shared by the two characters and illuminates a universal theme of present innocence and changing relationships over time.

The use of simile in the last stanza ‘matchstick hands as pale as the violet stems they lived among’ is used to compare a frog to violet flowers, which are very delicate and easily broken. The innocence of childhood is painted through this visual technique as the narrator only sees the frogs being very delicate, but to the readers the simile also creates a vivid image of the condition of the ‘Frogs’/ the French. The use of first person helps to create a reminiscent tone about the narrator’s experiences, and further helps to stress the ideas of childhood innocence and the influence of war on children because the poem is written from a child’s perspective. The use of enjambment generates a conversational and personal tone, emphasizing to the readers the reality of the themes discussed throughout the poem. The use of symbolism of frogs as pets and also representing the French highlights the idea that adults saw ‘Frogs’ as insignificant or unworthy to speak about, whereas the children could not understand this adult thought, and they placed exemplary regard to the wellbeing of the

Linda Pastan made this poem include various forms of figurative language to hide the literal message that it's trying to portray. Figurative language is using figures of speech to make the text be more powerful, persuasive, and meaningful. Figures of speech such as, similes and metaphors, go beyond the literal meanings to give the readers a new way of looking at the text. It can come in multiple ways with different literacy and rhetorical devices such as: alliteration, imageries, onomatopoeias, and etc. With the usage of the literary devices Pastan has used, it introduced the relationship between the mother and the daughter. It shows the memories of how the mother helped her daughter grow from a little girl to a young adult getting ready to go her own way in life.

This shows that the novel and the poem compare because they both grow up and they are not so innocent as they grow. In both the novel and the poem talk about making mistakes and how no one is

The peaceful mood is broken by their child brooding, and she is tired with everything- the neat house, the made bed, the good food, and seemingly everything that is the epitome of a sound house. The child creates an impatient mood. The peaceful puzzle piecing is now too slow and too boring. It is no longer peaceful, it is unexciting and dull. The child represent the opposite of her parents desires. She is the unexpected. She is unorderly. She is also the opposite of her parents. She is tired of her neat, little home and wants adventure. Her presence in poem provides a sharp contrast to her

In the poem “A Story” by Li-Young Lee, the topic of growing up is easily seen. With this in mind,the relationship between the father is constantly changing and evolving even if we do not personally see it. This growth is seen through the use of many literary elements.

Symbolism is a pivotal inclusion to any prominent poem or story. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe’s renowned poem “The Raven”, the raven symbolizes death and loss (Poe). This symbolism allows readers to connect with the raven on an emotional level and better visualize what is occurring in the story. Furthermore, symbolism provides writers with a variety of ways to express their emotional experiences, while further makes their stories captivating and relatable. The Awakening by Kate Chopin describes the “awakening” of Edna Pontellier, who “discovers herself” while vacationing with her family. Edna Pontellier thrives during an era where women were suppressed to primarily womanly duties, such as being a wife and mother. This “awakening” allows Edna to embark on a journey and explore the freedom she has never had the opportunity to attain. The use the sea, birds, and cigars as symbols is crucial to the significance of the story.

One must understand that the entire book is one big allegory about the unconditional love a parent and child share and the understanding the child grasps of this love as they themselves age (Wartenberg, 2011, p. 1). The allegory represents the full-circled nature of family love (Wartenberg, 2011, p. 1). The parent tends and nurtures a child in their young age and as the parent ages and become ill, often resembling the fetal stages of a child, that child tends to their parent. Throughout all stages of the boy’s life the mother held her son in her arms and sang: “I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be” (Munsch & McGraw, 1986, p. 6). Often times the boy would act wild and the mother would scream, “This kid is driving me CRAZY!"

The poem is three quatrains long with a lot of use of poetic devices such as symbolism and metaphor. A careful analysis of these poetic devices shows much more about the poem than what is seen on the surface. Symbolism is seen in various stanzas of the poem. The title itself is full of symbolism. It represents the poverty of the couple in the poem.

As for Olds, the interpretation of the theme with her use of imagery is demonstrated through the perspective of a small boy. “They gather in the living room— /short men, men in first grade /with smooth jaws and chins”. (2-4) Olds gives an image to the readers that a even as children they begin to have the structure of older people in their faces. Olds also in the poem uses imagery to paint a picture in how the children already carry adult chatteris in the way they talk perhaps in an sophisticated manner but it gives a sense on the language and posture in the future when they are much older.

Lee is able to pinpoint the emotions that he felt in his childhood, and that leads him to draw knowledge from the past and connect it to the present. One of the biggest influences in Lee’s poetry- and life- was his father. Lee had a very close emotional

To have so much symbolism in the very opening sentence of the tale is almost too much for the human mind.

When reading a story or a poem, readers tend to analyze, and develop their own opinions. Any content an author or poet produces is up to the reader to question, and identify what the stories meaning is. The point that I am stating is that, stories are like maps that readers need to figure out. Readers have to find the starting point, and get to the destination, which are their final thoughts and overall opinions. In the stories we have read so for this semester, they all have different messages of what they are trying to convey to the reader. The stories and poems that we have read, are set up in such a way that they are relatable to the reader. Among all the author’s and poet’s works we have studied, I have