Symbolism in "The Farming of Bones"

behind and follow the love of her life in Guido. Dora’s bravery came at a cost of embarrassing

In the work of African descended writers’, water is used as a common symbol. In Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak!, Jacques Roumain’s Masters of the Dew, and Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow, tears, rivers, the sea and other forms of water are used to symbolize change. More specifically, it symbolizes the change between life and death; freedom and confinement. The three writers use water as an ironic symbol, representing life, liberty, and their contradictions.

Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Often times in our society young people push off responsibilities, it's easy to do. Technology and other innovations have made it convenient for us to become distracted and to push things off. However when growing up, sometimes taking responsibility cannot be avoided. In coming of age stories, the author uses symbolism to exemplify how the protagonists experience new independence and responsibility while they transition from childhood to adulthood.

“Water is important to people who do not have it, and the same is true to control,” (Didion). The article, “Holy Water” by Joan Didion draws parallelism to the controlling or lack of control of water by metaphorically comparing water to life. Analyzing the possibility of how people are taking water for granted, especially where rainfall is extremely sparse, Didion touches on how supply and demand of a natural resource is solely dependent on its availability and whether or not it is immediately needed. Didion’s use of tone, appealing to emotions, gathering the audience to develop a trust, and providing a direct insight into her purpose allows the reader to recognize the importance water has within the planet.

     In chapter seven, the issue of water is seen rehashed yet again for one. Adelita Sandoval, whom Hellman interviews, shares her reasons for escaping to Tijuana, due to “a violent alcoholic husband” (pg.162), and the new life she began there. Her willingness to work in any situation enabled Sandoval to adjust quickly to her new environment. She sought out employment like everyone else, in what is known as a maquilina. “Mostly foreign-owned, these factories were constructed under the special tariff arrangements of the Border Industrialization Program.” (pg. 163) Sandoval paints a vivid picture of the long and monotonous

When Sebastian does not return to the waterfalls, Amabelle becomes instilled with a sense of reality that her lover is truly gone and water once again is portrayed as a symbol of death and sorrow. Before the massacre takes place, Sebastian and Amabelle fall in love and help one another heal from the earlier tragedy. They become engaged and make love at the site of the falls. The water again here is present and can be symbolized as an element of two people coming together. However when Amabelle returns to the same falls in hopes of meeting Sebastian, she is sadly disappointed. Her hopes of Sebastian surviving the massacre are still embedded deep within her, but the truth is that he had passed and all that was left for Amabelle was the presence she felt when revisiting the memories they had made at the waterfall. “Water the destroyer, in the form of

Oceans are essential for our environment since they produce more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere covering about seventy percent of the Earth. Without our vast oceans, humankind would be unable to survive. In Annie John, by Jamaica Kincaid, utilizes water as a motif to show the growth and develop of Annie, a young girl in the Caribbean. Learning how to properly balance the values of the colonial world and the native Caribbean culture, Obeah, Annie grows up through her mother’s parenting. Kincaid uses water as a tool of empowerment to Annie’s growth by curing, nurturing, and transforming her.

Water is used in “Children of the Sea” as a method of escape for Haitians. The story consists of letters by two people written to each other that they can not actually send. In the beginning of the story, Danticat writes “I also know there are timeless waters, endless seas, and lots of people in this world whose names don’t matter to anyone but themselves,” (3). This part of the male character’s letter alludes to the fact that his story of trying to escape Haiti and the struggles that come with that is not just

5. The most important scene in the story was the car accident. As a result of the car accident, both parents got injured, Giselle was unable to move or speak, and Isabella lost her life. The order of the events were harsh to bear the grief when the family knew they lost their daughter. On the other hand, they started supporting each other and sticking to each other more. There was also misunderstanding and confusion, everyone thought that Isabelle survived and Giselle died, "I AM NOT ISABELLE. I AM GISELLE" (Danticat

The material significance of water is clear. Water is an essential part of human life. Whether it’s the water we ingest in order to maintain the strength and integrity of our bodily structure and functions, or the water in our oceans that preserve the fragile ecosystem of our planet and cover a majority of the Earth’s surface. We have learned to exploit water for our survival and our leisure, sometimes at great risk. However, water also has a psychological significance to humans. There is something about water that has always attracted humanity. It is evident from our literature that humanity has often felt drawn to the water. Some good examples of this are Tim Winton’s 2008 novel ‘Breath’ and ‘The Bloody Past, the Wandering Future’, written by Janette Turner Hospital as a part of her ‘Dislocation’ series in 1990.

“People live under the earth in a cavelike dwelling”(Socrates). In the story of the Allegory of the Cave Socrates say people live under the earth in a cavelike dwelling, meaning that instead of people actually living on the earth, instead it seems like they are living under the earth because they are so unaware and lack knowledge of the world they live in, they seem to be caging themselves in, instead of opening themselves to the world they live in. The story the Allegory of the cave the author urges readers through his many symbolic features to, enlighten yourself so you don’t continue or slip into living in a cave mentality because there is more to life than what really know, also never stop trying to educate others around you, but remember

The author of the story, ‘Hills Like White Elephants’, presents us with such a situation that is difficult to be identified. As we figure out that the couple is discussing abortion, we are given many symbols as hints. The symbols in the story represent the life changing situation that the girl and the man are going through. The two heavy bags represent the decision that the girl and the man have to make, the bead curtain represents moving on from the situation, and the hills that look like white elephants represent the girl's perception. The two luggages in the story are symbols of decision making.

Water is the symbol of life. It purifies and cleanses us physically; at the same time it cleanses and purifies our souls from original sin in and through the baptismal water. Water has another dimension in our life if we recognize the fact that when we are in our mother’s womb we are in the water and grow in water.

When we first meet our heroine, she is a companion to Mrs. Van Hopper. Together they are visiting Monte Carlo (13). Where the meet Mr. de Winter, whom had lost his wife Rebecca. Throughout Rebecca, we never truly know what our heroine’s name is. However our heroine falls in love with Maxim de Winter. They get married and he moves her off to his home, Manderly. Where know our heroine is now Mrs. de Winter (53)

Of Water and the Spirit begins with Malidoma, his name meaning “be friends with stranger or enemy,” being born into a Dagara village in Burkina Faso. Malidoma’s early childhood was spent mostly with his grandfather learning about the Dagara culture because in the Dagara culture, the bond between grandchild and grandfather is unbreakable. At the age of five, Malidoma’s grandfather dies and soon after, Malidoma is