Were Watching God Mule

Symbols in literary works can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Symbols can appear in a novel as an event, action, or object. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, uses the symbols of the gate to show Janie’s transitions to womanhood, independence from oppression, and realization of what love is to Janie.

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Analyze a symbol in George Orwell's 1984, and write an essay demonstrating how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Symbols can be; images, signs, colors, sounds, shapes, anything. It is like how blue can stand for sadness, and how the sun can stand for happiness. Symbolism is an object or an idea that has a representation beyond the literal meaning of the object. The functions of symbols are to add meaning to the text and underline some subtle point the author is making, also to give the reader a clue about the mood of the story and what will happen. The symbols Lorraine Hansberry used in A Raisin in the Sun are the light, plant, and the window. All three symbols; the light, the plant, and the window, have to go together for the Youngers to reach their dream.

On the new book cover there is a mule, to help show that Janie is stubborn and that her relationship with Joe Starks. Janie and Joe’s relationship is strained. However it shows more than that, the mule can refer to any black women struggling for independence. “ Honey, de white man is the ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it’s some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’ but what we see. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up cause he have to, but

In the book, the metaphor mule has still been used where Janie’s grandmother catches her kissing another boy in the neighborhood. Her grandmother is only worried about the security of her granddaughter, as she does not want her to grow up and become poor or be used by men (Bowers 43). Therefore, the metaphor mule has been used to show that Janie’s grandmother would not love Janie to end up becoming another man’s laborer or burden of beast. Additionally, she does not want to see her granddaughter become poor and miserable in her life. She only cares about the security of her granddaughter. The metaphor has been used by the author to compare the state of being used as a worker or being mistreated to that of the mule. The author can also be considered as describing the characters as a bit stubborn or opinionated, as mules would be. They seem to be weighing their emotions as compared to their religious beliefs thereby presenting conflicts that are characteristic of human behavior and interaction.

Accepting the fact that something is a symbol is easy. However, finding out what it means or what it stands for. Symbols can interpret more than one thing, we can only discuss possible meanings and interpretations. Symbols are not only built on associations readers have, but also on emotional reactions which captures the reader emotionally. f it isn’t symbolism, its allegory, which stands for other things on a one-for-one basis that convey a certain message. The cave is a symbol of secrets and mysteries represents mainly by how the reader engages the story.

Have you ever thought about further meanings being held by symbols in books that you’ve read? Symbolism is defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. The definition of symbol is a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract. In Nancy Farmer’s novel, The House of the Scorpion, several symbols are utilized; each of these symbols provide greater insight into the characters of El Patron, Celia, and Esperanza, allowing a reader to deeper understand both the characters and the novel. A few of the characters in The House of the Scorpion are shown through symbols in the novel.

In the novel, Hurston continues to introduce the mule, an animal used for farm work and pulling carts. It is often that the mule is referred to as a beast of burden.

A symbol is an object that represents or symbolizes another object. In the short story, the scarlet ibis, by James Hurst, the scarlet ibis is a symbol for Doodle because it represents him in life, in person, and in death. One example of the scarlet ibis symbolizing doodle is the fact that both the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle are out of place. For example, when doodle’s father reads the bird book, he states, “It is a Scarlet Ibis, it lives in the tropics [South America to Florida]. A storm must have brought it here, A Scarlet Ibis!

The mule was mentioned multiple times and it symbolized bondage and victimization. On page 14, Nanny tells Janie that the black woman is the mule of the world. Women were belittled by society because they were looked at as the lowest creature and used to others advantage. This was relevant to the book because it shows how African-American women had to carry that burden by other individuals, but Janie also had to carry it in her first two marriages.

Symbolism is when concrete things are used to represent abstract ideas. Symbols can be any person, place, or thing that the reader believes represents more than what it literally is. Authors can use symbols to help the reader get fully immersed into the plot. Symbols can also help identify motifs or themes that run throughout the story. In Naomi Novik’s Throne of Jade, the Allegiance, a ship, is used as a symbol of tension between countries, specifically China and Great Britain.

Within the story “There eyes were watching God” the mule represents the mistreatment of Janie as an African American women. In the beginning of the story the “Mule” is symbolized and introduced by Janie’s grandmother who is called “Nanny”. Janie’s grandmother implants

Webster defined "symbol" with these words: "Something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that cannot in itself be pictured." This concept has been particularly applied to literature and used by writers throughout history. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses multitudes of symbols in such a manner. One of the most prominent, and most complicated, of such symbols is the scarlet letter "A". The scarlet letter "A" is a symbol of a daughter's connection to her mother, isolation, and the devil and its associations.

The mule serves to illustrate the strained relationship between Janie and Joe Starks. The figure of the mule can also refer not only to Janie herself but to any black woman struggling for independence. Janie identifies with the mule, which remains stubbornly independent despite its masters efforts to beat it down. Ironically,

Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the author's intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader.