Themes And Symbolism In City Of Bones And City Of Glass

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.

The scene in The Glass Castle that presented me with the strongest universal topic of theme is abuse. An example of this in The Glass Castle is when Jeanette’s parents are having a heated argument. Towards the end, her mother is dangling from the window, her father trying to hold her up. When the kids interfere and pull their mother to safety, she says he tried to kill her. In the book his response was, “I didn’t push her, I swear to God I didn’t. She jumped” (Walls 72). But even though Jeanette’s father said he didn’t push her, it is very obvious that he lied. This is because later in the book, he stated that he only believed in science, and claiming that there wasn’t a God. Therefore, his swear didn’t

Jesmyn Ward, in her novel “Salvage the Bones”, has told the story of a family that lived in Mississippi when the incident of Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005, getting back to her own memories of the Hurricane which she experienced in De Lisle, Mississippi. With the use of provocative symbolism throughout the novel, Ward has very interestingly narrated how the family suffered through the Hurricane, and how they spent their lives without any concern for the future. This paper probes into the symbolism and metaphors Ward used in the novel.

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

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,

The symbol the author talked mainly about is the Glass Castle, it represented so much in this book and got them through many years especially for Jeanette it stand for hope and for the better though there father rex walls couldn't physically build the glass house. I really didn't think the kids really cared about the house the dad had in mind not only because they lost faith in the fact that the dad been saying that for far too long but because it always stand for something more family, love and represent what the family went through and pain they went through for the better life they have now living. This imaginary glass home was there all along they may not have seen it but it was right in front of them the whole time it was there family, as long as they were together there glass (huge, fancy, stone house) remained it was where ever they were together. The castle shows by using a physical object to represent an idea or emotion the power of family and love the strength of it can get you through any blocking or stopping things of life. We are like the glass huge, fancy, stone house we are delicate and breakable we break easily and time is very valuable/very dearly loved before we fall into pieces and slip but we fall together and together we are not alone we will pick up the pieces together and it won't matter how long it takes because we'll get through together because no one gets left behind.

     I’m thinking that the author’s main use of these symbols probably suggest that she was pushing the theme of the story. That we, the readers, could possibly understand what the whole purpose of this story meant. The symbols were clues into deeper understandings of the story and how

way that have deep hidden meanings. Also, authors in both stories uses symbolism to identify

difference and give a story meaning. There are many different symbols in this story besides the

For instance Melinda’s thanksgiving turkey bone sculpture is a clear symbol of her family troubles and her tree in Mr. Freemen’s class changed further on in the book due to her slowly opening up and coming back to humanity a symbol in the first stage of her tree that she drew with a dead branch is symbolizing its ability to regrow and her need to regrow her social status and mental state. I think these two symbols sort of connect to each other because as Melinda’s relation with her family grows so does her tree and the better her social status gets the better her tree starts looking. Melinda's art is full of symbols because some people say art comes from the soul and Melinda put her soul then some into her art I guess you can say her art tells a little

Throughout The Lovely Bones symbolism is distributed all throughout the book. The author uses symbolism to create a more dramatic story.

City of Glass is a novel written by Paul Auster in 1985, and its one of the stories included in the series of novels The New York Trilogy (1987). One of the essential themes that recur in many of Austers works is the search for identity and personal meaning, and this is exactly one of the main elements of City of Glass. It deals with this detective writer, who descends into madness when he becomes a private investigator himself by mistake. In the following essay, I will focus on the characters and the very twisted point of view, which is a big part of the whole novel. Besides that, I will concentrate on the themes that are dealt with in the story.

The dictionary states that a symbol is to be defined as “something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible” (Morris). Symbolism increases the meaning of the story, as well as captivates the reader’s attention to a deeper degree. It encourages the reader to think and attempt to find the hidden meaning within the narrative itself. As a poet Edgar Allen Poe occupied his narratives with literary elements. Symbols become one of the most predominant elements in his works of literature. Consequently, in his concise poem “The Raven,” the literary element most noted by the reader is symbolism. Characters, places, and objects all have a deeper meaning within this poem. In “The Raven” the most noted of the symbols are the bust, Lenore, the time, and the raven.

    Many events that take place in A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, foreshadow upcoming obstacles and give insight into the hardships of the townspeople. Symbolic events occur which describe the vengefulness of the peasants towards the aristocrats. The novel contains many events, which have symbolic value. Many of the symbols have to do with the inevitable clash between the aristocrats and peasants. These events foreshadow the war that is soon to become reality.

City of Glass the novel written by Paul Auster and its comic adaptation by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli have ways that they are the same and ways they are different. The part of both books I am going to focus on is from the time the main character, William Wilson a.k.a Quinn, goes to the train station to keep an eye on the elderly Peter Stillman on behalf of Virginia Stillman to the time where Quinn loses sight of Peter Stillman. There are several similarities as well as differences that I saw in this interval of time. Ultimately, the graphic novel does stand alone as a story; however, as it routinely leaves out content as well as making other changes, it makes an effect on the readers that is different than the effect the original