Symbolism

In practice

Symbolism is the use of a concrete thing (an object, a color, a place, an animal, a gesture) to stand for an idea larger than itself. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock in The Great Gatsby is a real light, but it also stands for everything Gatsby wants and cannot reach. A symbol works on two levels at once: it is part of the story's physical world, and it carries a meaning the story never has to state.

Symbols earn their meaning through the story. A few are conventional, borrowed from a shared culture (a dove for peace, a skull for death, winter for an ending), and a reader brings that meaning to the page. Most of the symbols that matter are built by the writer: an object appears at important moments, gathers associations each time, and by the end carries emotion on its own. The sled in Citizen Kane means nothing in the first scene and everything in the last.

The common mistake is announcing the symbol. When a character explains what the rose in the vase represents, the symbol becomes a sign with a label, and the reader has nothing left to discover. A strong symbol is noticed rather than pointed at. It should make sense as a literal object first, so a reader who misses the deeper meaning still follows the story, and a reader who catches it gets something more.

An object that carries the scene

Nobody says the mug stands for the father, and nobody needs to. It is an ordinary object, used ordinarily, which is why it carries so much. Ruth's habit of setting it out shows her grief; Danny's choice to drink from it shows that the family will go on, and that he means to take his father's place at the table. The symbol does the emotional work so that the dialogue can stay plain.

What symbolism means

A symbol is something that represents something else, usually a concrete thing standing for an abstract idea. The word comes from the Greek symbolon, a token broken in two so that each half could later be matched to prove identity. Symbolism is the practice of using such tokens in a work: letting objects, images and actions carry meaning beyond their literal role.

In literature, symbolism differs from a simple comparison. A metaphor says one thing is another ("hope is a light"); a symbol simply puts the light in the story and lets it mean hope. The reader is never told to make the connection. That is why symbolism rewards rereading: the second time through, a reader notices how often the light appears, and when.

Symbolism with a capital S is also the name of a late nineteenth-century movement in French poetry and art. Poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine, and the painters around them, preferred suggestion to description and tried to evoke moods and ideas through images. The movement's manifesto, by Jean Moréas, appeared in Le Figaro in 1886. The lowercase device is far older and is used in every kind of story.

Types of symbols

Teachers often sort symbols into three kinds. Conventional, or universal, symbols draw on meanings most readers already share: light and dark, water as renewal, a journey as a life. Cultural symbols depend on a particular tradition, such as a color that means mourning in one country and celebration in another. Contextual, or literary, symbols get their meaning only from the work itself, like the conch in Lord of the Flies, which becomes a symbol of order because of how the boys use it.

Symbols also differ in scale. Some are small and local, appearing in a single scene. Others run through a whole work and become what critics call a controlling symbol: the white whale in Moby-Dick, the scarlet letter in Hawthorne's novel. When a symbol recurs, it overlaps with a motif; the difference is that a motif is the pattern of repetition, while a symbol is the thing that carries the meaning.

Characters, settings and actions can be symbolic too. A storm can stand for a character's inner turmoil, a crossroads for a decision, and a character's act of washing their hands for guilt, as when Lady Macbeth tries to scrub away blood that is no longer there.

Examples of symbolism

In literature: the green light in The Great Gatsby stands for longing and the unreachable future. The mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird stands for innocence that should be protected, which is why harming Tom Robinson and Boo Radley is a sin. The conch in Lord of the Flies stands for order and democracy, and when it shatters, so does the boys' society.

In film: the sled named Rosebud in Citizen Kane stands for the childhood Kane lost. In Schindler's List, a little girl's red coat, the only color in a black-and-white film, makes one victim visible in a crowd and later marks the moment Schindler cannot look away. In The Shawshank Redemption, the poster on Andy's cell wall hides his escape tunnel and stands for the hope that keeps him alive.

In everyday stories: a wedding ring taken off and put in a drawer, a plant that dies while a marriage fails, a house repainted after a divorce. Screenwriters use symbols constantly because film cannot easily show a thought, but it can show an object, and an object charged with meaning lets an audience feel what a character never says.

Symbolism in film and screenwriting

On screen, symbolism lives in what the camera sees. A screenplay cannot direct the audience's attention to meaning, but it can place the object in the scene, give it action lines at key moments, and let characters handle it. A director and a production designer will build on what the page sets up, so the writer's job is to make the object matter to the story before it matters as a symbol.

Repetition with change is the screenwriter's main tool. Show the object early in one situation, return to it at the midpoint in a different light, and let it pay off at the climax. Each appearance should mean a little more than the last. This is the same structure as plant and payoff, applied to meaning rather than plot.

Keep the action lines simple. Describe the object as a character would see it, not as a critic would read it. "The chipped mug with the faded tractor" lets the audience discover its importance; "the mug, a symbol of her late husband" belongs in an essay, not a script.

How to use symbolism in your writing

Start with the story, not the symbol. Find the theme or emotion your story is about, then look for an object or image that already belongs in your characters' world and connects to it naturally. Symbols that grow out of the setting and the characters' habits feel inevitable; symbols imported to make a point feel planted.

Give the symbol a job in the plot. The best symbols are also useful: a key that opens a door, a letter that must be delivered, a photograph that proves something. When an object matters literally, readers pay attention to it, and the symbolic meaning can build without any explanation.

Then trust the reader. Avoid characters who explain what things mean, avoid stacking too many symbols in one scene, and let some meanings stay open. A symbol that supports several readings (is the whale evil, nature, God, or Ahab's own obsession?) keeps a story alive long after the last page.