Symbolism In The Mermaid Chair, By Sue Monk Kidd

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.

In contrast to a more feminist perspective, LeBlanc views Grand Isle not as a female colony but as distinctly patriarchal. The fact that mother-women seem to rule enhances this reading according to their own submission into the phallogocentric demands of the island and culture beyond. The island visitors’ rejection of Mademoiselle Reisz, a woman who fails to conform to the expectations of a heterosexually normative society (and a woman who is, according to LeBlanc, culturally coded to be read as nonheterosexual), underscores the supremely heterosexual patriarchy that dominates Grand Isle.

In “The Century Quilt,” Marilyn Nelson Waniek utilizes several literary techniques to represent the speaker’s undying heritage through her family heirloom that binds generations with one another. As an indication of the diversity and complexity within her family, the speaker goes into depth about the immense effect her Meema’s blanket had on her growth into a woman and the etching along her own quilt that represents her Native American pride. With the use of evocative imagery and symbolism of her culture’s oppression, Waniek depicts the speaker’s remorseful tone towards the recurring theme of absence within her family, that forces her to rely on the quilt for a sense of comfort and guidance.

Alice Walker “The Flowers” is a literary piece in which violence is not presented but suggested , and not experienced, but witnessed. Alice Walker is a contemporary African-American writer who is mainly concerned with racism. She has worked to address problems of poverty and inequality. Originally written in 1970, it is set in the south of America and is about Myop a small 10- year old African-American girl who explores the place where she lives with her black family. Alice Walker succeeded in employing symbolism to highlight childhood innocence and the loss of it.

culture. Starting at the time of slavery to relay information about safe routes in the Underground

Water can be identified as a symbol that embodies the very essence of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. This “feminist” novel depicts the life of Edna Pontellier and explores the many daunting themes of identity, women and their roles in society, and independence; all of which, during the nineteenth century, were extremely sensitive and daring topics. In a nutshell, the novel is truly about her “awakening”, which is portended by its title. What allows this is water, which stands to represent Edna’s awakening. It is no coincidence that much of her time at Grand Isle was spent at the beach or in the water, or that her infamous death was due to drowning. Similarities like these do not just occur: they give purpose to the novel’s plot and meaning.

Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.

The title of an author's books often is the most profound symbolism in the book. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is no exception. The glass castle was created in the imagination of a young Jeanette and her father Rex Walls. It was a glass house that all the Walls family would live in, and be self sufficient. Through her childhood the glass castle was a lighthearted dream, and a promise from her dad, that one day they would have a stable life. One were she did not have to worry about where her next meal was coming from. The glass castle was also proof that the negligent father cared. “He carried around the blueprints [for] the glass castle wherever he went, and sometimes he’d pull them out and let us work on the design of our rooms” (Walls

Sometimes at a young immature age teenagers make many mistakes. Some mistakes are just little ones that can be forgotten about or fixed, but then some teenagers makes mistakes that will impact their whole life as they are starting to grow up and starting to turn into mature adults. For example, Bobby got Nia pregnant at age 16 in the book The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. " Nia was waiting...for me with a red balloon. Just sittin' there with a balloon, looking all lost. I'll never forget that look and how her voice shook when she said, Bobby, I've got something to tell you. Then she handed me the balloon." That balloon symbolized that she was having a baby, later on the basketball rolls out of the room, leading to a ghost boy looking in the mirror not knowing who he is.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka provides an interesting perspective to the American experience through the eye of Japanese women around the time of World War 2. The author uses a number of unique writing techniques which originally confused me, but once accustomed created an immersive and intimate reading experience. Otsuka also inserts a number of metaphors and symbols throughout the novel with various possibilities for explanation depending on the opinion of the reader.

If great writers are able to escape the influences of their era and write in a timeless fashion, then Jeanne Marie LePrince de Beaumont is certainly not a great writer. Beaumont wrote Beauty and the Beast in eighteenth-century France during the reign of Louis XV. It was a time when the enormous bourgeoisie population was slowly growing in independent wealth, yet remained grossly overtaxed and starved. These peasants were systematically excluded from the aristocracy and the workings of government. France was a stronghold of the dying feudal-influenced monarchy system, in which the king declared himself an absolute monarch with the divine right to rule as

The sea can be have a different meaning for every person. Many think of the ocean as a terrifying place that is filled with endless amount of salt water, while others find a sense of freedom, swimming till they can’t see the shore. Edna Pontellier, the main character of The Awakening, feels the latter. Throughout the story Author, Kate Chopin, indulges in the ocean, it's new found freedom pulling Edna further from the shore, wave by wave. Although this can be exciting for a woman stepping out of societal boundaries, it can result in reckless behavior to “swim far out, where no woman had swum before.”

And so does her body, which is laid in her grave. The father now asks the heavy and dark earth in the last line that it should cover her body very gentle and with this picture we get an even sadder ending.