Symbolism In A Thousand Splendid Sunss By Khaled Hosseini

Symbols in literary works can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Symbols can appear in a novel as an event, action, or object. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, uses the symbols of the gate to show Janie’s transitions to womanhood, independence from oppression, and realization of what love is to Janie.

Questions reader should ask when trying to determine symbolic meaning: “what’s the writer doing with this image, this object, this act; what possibilities are suggested by the movement of the narrative or the lyric; and most important, what does it feel like it’s doing?” (Foster 59).

Elie Wiesel used eyes as a motif in his narrative, Night, as windows to characters’ inner souls. He used eyes to assist the theme of surviving at all costs throughout the story by giving the audience an insight of people’s true emotions and status. Without eyes, we would have been blind to see past characters’ outer layers of fake emotion. There is more than the eye can see. One has to look deep into another’s eyes to see the true light or darkness within them.

Reading literature allows people to imagine, create, and believe certain things that reality or other written works are not capable of. The same way writers create their literature is the same way readers interpret it. Both readers and writers use imagination to do so. Literature opens a world where every thought/thing is brought to life. In literature, any person, place, or thing could possibly mean more than its’ literal meaning. When writers do so, he or she uses a literacy device called symbolism. Symbolism is when the author uses objects to represent a certain idea, an idea that is beyond its’ actual meaning. In Robert Olen Butler’s “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot” and “The Paring Knife” by Michael Oppenheimer, the authors

In David Almond’s magic realist novel Skellig, the story follows the protagonist Michael, a young boy who is facing many difficulties and challenges in his young life, the author uses a number of language devices to tell his story, including puns, metaphors and similes. However one of the most powerful devices are symbols. The author strongly uses symbols to reinforce character traits and to show the connections between characters throughout the novel. The author constantly refers to the symbols of evolution, death, birds and wings.

In the novel Dawn, the motif eyes is used to represent a window to one's true character and feelings. Elisha is now part of the movement and is chosen to execute one of the two hostages. Elisha joins this Palestine terrorist group and has a very jumbled up life. His life brought him to this very point because he did know what to do. He is having a hard time thinking and deciding about killing the soldier. He realizing how he will feel when he looks into the man's eyes and how he will feel terrible and scared. “On the first operation and those that followed I was not alone. I killed, to be sure, but i was one of a group. With John Dawson I would be on my own. I would look into his face and he would look into mine and see that I was all eyes”(Wiesel

Many pieces of literature have comparable characteristics, including the use of literary elements to portray deeper meaning. “The Story of an Hour” and The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are great pieces of literature which keep their main focus around the use of symbolism, hidden in the plot. Whereas Mrs. Mallard, from “The Story of an Hour”, appears to be insane due to her husband, characters from The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest gains their insanity from Nurse Ratched, both authors incorporate symbolism in order to display themes and reveal character traits

Thomas C. Foster utilizes various allusions and forms of symbolism to apply a multifaceted meaning or message to any piece of literature. In “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” Foster theorizes how an author can assist a reader in getting a better grip on the message or purpose of a work using figurative language including symbolism, tones, allusions, and techniques. The chapters “…Or the Bible”, “It’s Never Just Heart Disease”, and “Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion” all demonstrate how Foster’s theories can be applied to the way authors have written and will continue to write.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston uses symbolism to draw parallels between literal things taking place in the plot, as well as abstract concepts pertaining to society or a bigger picture. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story. Symbolism poses somewhat of a challenge for the reader because they must look deeper into the story and the plot to find connections between symbols and their double meanings.

These eyes, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, represent many things to the characters in this novel. He represents, hope, despair, and God, all while staring

The phrase "a thousand splendid suns," from the poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi, is quoted twice in the novel - once as Laila's family prepares to leave Kabul, and again when she decides to return there from Pakistan. It is also echoed in one of the final lines: "Miriam is in Laila's own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns." Discuss the thematic significance of this phrase.

In Note to Sixth-Grade Self, Julie Orringer exercises Author's craft techniques such as Visual Imagery and Symbolism. She utilizes these techniques to inform the reader about a little girl’s life; the good and bad things she goes through. Orringer uses her Visual Imagery to make the reader feel like they are apart of the story. Orringer also uses her symbols to reveal the little girl's emotions and expressions throughout the story. Therefore, as the reader is reading the story, they get absorbed in the book and discover that a moment of triumph is worth the sacrifices.

Having read many pieces of literature through short stories, it is evident that each story has its own unique use of symbolism. Diverse characters in each work of literature are used to demonstrate these forms of symbolism. The boss and his inner conflict illustrate a great deal of symbolism in “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield. The boss’s perception of the actions of the fly creates an interesting view of the comparison of his father-son, father-fly relationship. Katherine Mansfield, a famous realist, who uses concrete images, appeals to many readers because she incorporates her life into the stories she writes.

Punctuation marks in writing showcase the practice of separating general elements. In Notes on Punctuation Lewis Thomas examines the purpose different punctuation communicate, in addition to, alluding to effects they have on readers. Throughout Thomas’ essays, he employs tropes, specifically similes to evoke imagery to promote his purpose of analyzing the significance of different punctuation marks. Throughout this text Thomas employs explicit tropes along the lines of similes to carry out his purpose of explaining the different effects and function various punctuations exhibit.

In their novels The Kite Runner and The God of Small Things, Khaled Hosseini and Arundhati Roy employ the use of symbols in their novels to aid in their attempt to portray their message about innocence.