Symbolism In Katherine Min's 'Courting A Monk'

In the memoir, The Glass Castle, it was evident the Glass Castle was not just a physical object itself, but holds a deeper meaning of symbolism towards the author, Jeannette Walls. After completing the book, it has been noted that the Glass Castle symbolizes the constant reminder of Jeannette’s hope that one day both her family and house will be in a stable, working position. Throughout the novel, the Glass Castle was vaguely mentioned as the Walls family continued their journey through the United States. However, through their ongoing journey, Jeannette’s view of the Glass Castle changed, as it was inevitably just a vision that her father had implanted in her brain but never actually built in reality.

Authors use symbolism in order to prove points, represent emotions, or even to show ideas. In the memoir, The Glass Castle written by Jeanette Walls, the 'Glass Castle' itself represents the ray of hope that each child had as they grew up in a financially troubled and twisted family. The Glass Castle design was also used by her father as a way to get his children to trust that he will always try to provide for and protect his family. Rex Walls, Jeanette's father stated that the Glass Castle would have glass staircases, heating and cooling powered by solar energy, and even a water purification system. He planned the rooms with extreme precision and, “Carried the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever [they] went” (Walls 25). He even had the kids, “Work on the design for our rooms” (Walls 25). All of this would be funded by his Prospector machine which would separate gold from other rocks. However, this machine was never used and Rex's drinking and gambling habits would always force the Walls family to move to a new location, putting the idea of the Glass Castle in the back of their minds.

Everyone needs hope in their lives for the good times and the bad. Hope is an essential part of human life, which is sometimes symbolized into objects. Legend by Marie Lu is a dystopian story about Day, a slum sector teen criminal, and June, a wealthy military prodigy. Marie Lu uses Day’s pendant to symbolize the hope and freedom Day and June yearn for.

Olive quickly gains popularity when most of the student body witnesses, from the other side of the door, her having sex at a party with a boy from school. Little does everyone know that it is all a ruse to get them to think that Brandon, her fake sex partner, is not gay in hopes that this very public display of sexual activity will prevent daily beatings at school and it works! (Perry et al., 2011)

Because many people easily empathize with animals, novelists sometimes use animals as symbols in their writings to enhance the emotional connection with the reader. In When the Emperor Was Divine, Julie Otsuka uses wild and domestic animals to symbolize the confinement her main characters face. White Dog is a symbol of how the main characters leave their innocent past behind as they go to the internment camp. The freedom of the wild horses symbolizes the confinement of the protagonists. The tortoise represents the hope the characters can find, even in confinement.

[Lead in sentence/Hook] “Son of a Trickster,” by Eden Robinson, is the story about the coming of age and rough period of adolescence of a young Aboriginal boy. Through her novel, Robinson is able to convey a message that the Aboriginal people, mainly focusing on the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, are dark and grating societies of Canada. In order for her readers to understand her perspective of the society, she first demonstrates the selfishness of the societies with the symbolism of raven along with its traits and attributes. Secondly, she uses supernaturalism which shows the mysterious and deceiving society of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. Lastly, the connection of Jared’s relationships with his peers reveal the negative influences, trends, and issues within the Aboriginal societies. Overall, all these factors contribute the darkness of both reality and the story.

In “Parker’s Back” by Flannery O’Connor, the protagonist, Parker, deals with an internal struggle with religion. Throughout the story, Parker controls his mixed feelings by getting tattoos. Parker openly refuses God, but agrees to marry a religious woman and gets a religious tattoo. How does the author use symbolism to add significance the Parker’s actions? O’Connor portrays Parker’s changing relationship with religion by adding symbolism to the most important aspects of his life.

"Desiree's Baby" is Kate Chopin's most well-known short story and most anthologized piece of work. The story takes place in southern Louisiana and her writing reflects her Creole-French descent. Chopin begins the story with a descriptive quote, "when she reached L'Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place...Big solemn oaks grew close to it and their thick leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it like a pall" (185). The preceding quote gives the reader an eerie feeling and foreshadows an unpleasant ending to the story. Throughout "Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial prejudice, unequal gender roles, and

‘Desiree's Baby’ is southern feminist writer Kate Chopin's emotional short story and most well-reputed piece of work. The story takes place in southern Louisiana and her writing reflects her Creole-French heritage. Chopin was a southern feminist writer who often entwined her stories with the struggles of social injustices and her writing style is deep, eloquent and rife with symbolism. She seemingly tethers each element of her stories with elements she faces every day. In this story, Chopin uses symbolism to imbibe the seemingly simple imagery of Armand’s home, the field in which Desiree and the baby departed, and the fire which consumed the evidence of their existence with deep, powerful connotations to convey her themes of the injustice of

Symbolism is used in the memoir The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, whenever the phrase “glass castle” is used. When someone in the book refers to the “glass castle” they are talking about a hope for the future of the Walls family. Rex Walls, her father, always promised that “Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our Glass Castle” (Walls 25). The “glass castle” represents the hope she has as a small child, because she was an optimist, who believed in a bright future for herself and her family. It also represents the hope she had as an adult, because a glass castle is fragile, and one wrong move can send the whole thing crashing down, just as one wrong move could send propel her life into chaos. As an author,

“Sexuality has an extremely complex relationship to gender relations in general and gender inequality in particular” (W R, 316). The sexual abuse that Tina suffered from when she was young was also another contributing factor. She became numb to the act and treats it as a source of currency to obtain favors; exercising her femininity when it became advantageous to her. She resents people who think low of her because of her sex, as shown in her fight with Frank (B S, 66).

“Lust,” describes a young teenage girl who has mischievous meetings with many boys. The narrator, which is the young girl, attends Casey Academy which is a coed school. She is sexually active and does not fear pregnancy because she has been taking birth control pills since she was a young girl. The narrator describes her sexual expected gathering with the fifteen different boys she has been with, and when she talks about them she seems emotionally removed from the experience. The narrator’s parents don’t have a clue about what she has been getting herself into: “My parents had no idea. Parents never really know what’s going on, especially when you’re away at school most of the time. If she met them, my mother might say, “Oliver seems nice” or “I like that one” without much of an opinion...” (1029). The narrator’s parents do not show much interest in her life which can be a reason to why she craves

story that shows symbolism, to give hints about the story in all the characters and

To do so, Levy turns to the experiences of several young women whom she interviews. From her interpretations of these experiences, Levy reaches the conclusion that these women’s sexual nature revolves around their need

In Angela Carter’s The Courtship of Mr.Lyon, feminist themes are portrayed through the use of symbolism. The symbols are portrayed through the plot reversal of the classic tale, The Beauty and the Beast. By portraying the beauty and the beast opposites, Carter breaks traditional gender roles typically associated with fairy tales. The Beast is fragile, vulnerable, and ultimately ends up being helpless. While Beauty proves herself to be strong willed, confident, and eventually, aware of the oppressive and objectifying society she lives in.