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Symbols Of Short Stories For Thematic Enhancement

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The use of symbols in short stories for thematic enhancement
Symbolism is a widely used literary technique in short stories. The accounts described in short stories generally promote a certain aspect like religion, love, politics and discrimination among many others. These are the themes that are promoted by the stories. Symbols and imagery are an aesthetic way of bringing out these themes and authors have learnt how to effectively use them for thematic purpose, as they serve a better role as compared to plain words. Symbolism not only adds meaning to the theme in question, it creates an aura of aestheticism while reading such stories. The uses of symbolism for thematic purposes in some of the short stories are discussed below.
The theme of American Dream/Nightmare
American dream highlights the epitome of prosperity that the United States promises to any hardworking individual. Most importantly, the notion of freedom is one that aligns to values of prosperity. The American nightmare is the opposite of the American dream in the sense that one’s dream can be another person’s nightmare; which translates to one persons success could be another person’s bad luck.
That explained, one of the most highly symbolized book which promotes this theme is Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour". Through an exquisite display of objects throughout the story, the author describes the life of a woman’s life in the late 1980’s when the wave of freedom was beginning to flow across America. At the

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