【正文】 or i ts br iefnes in space. 2. There are t wo broad t ypes of li terary symbol s Symbol is general y acknowledged to be one of t he most f requent ly empl oyed devices in poet ry. I n wor ks of fi ct ion it is no less fr equent and no les important. The f act i s that , when a reader r eads a work of fi ct ion, his focus is most ly cast upon the pl ot , t he char acter, and the language used, so that t he symbols ar e automati caly backgrounded on the reader’ s part . But in some novels and stori es, t he symbol ism l ooms so l ar ge t hat the reader wi l fail to get a prehensi ve understandi ng of the wor k wit hout payi ng special at enti on t o the symbols. The Scarlet Leter by Nathani el Hawthor ne i s one of such works. The very ti tl e points to a double symbol: the scarlet leter A worn by Hester conveys a mult iple of senses which di f er great ly fr om what it li teraly stands f or , and the wor k eventualy develops into a test and cri tique of symbols themselves. Thomas Pynchon’s V. cont inues along much the same line, t esting an al phabeti cal symbol. Anot her exampl e is Her man Mel vi le’s Moby Dick, in which the huge whi te whal e in the ti tle of the book acqui res gr eater meani ng than t he li teral di ct ionarydefini tion of an aquatic mammal . It al so suggests more than the devil, to whom some of the char acters l iken i t. The huge whal e, as t he story unfolds, es to impl y an ampl it ude of meanings: among them the for ces of nat ur e and the whol e univer se. Literary symbols are of two broad types: one type i ncludes t hose embodying uni versal suggesti ons of meani ng. Fl owi ng water suggest s t ime and eternit y, a journey i nt o t he underworl d and r et ur n fr om it is interpreted as a spiri tual experience or a dark night of the soul, and a ki nd of re dempti ve odyssey. Such symbols are used widel y (and somet imes unconsciously) in west er n lit er at ur e. The ot her type of symbol secures it s uggesti veness not fr om qualit ies i nherent i n itsel f but from t he way in which it is used in a given wor k, in a special cont ext . Thus, in Moby Di ck t he voyage, the land, and the ocean ar e object s pr egnant with meani ngs that sem almost independent of t he author ’s use of them in the st or y。, but an i sl and of r ef uge fr om sl eples night , chaos, lonel iness, old age, the meaningl essness of l if e, and impending death. In some novels and stori es, some char acters are symboli c. Such charact er s usual y appear br iefl y and remai n sl ight ly myst er ious. In Joseph Cornar d’ s Heart of Darknes, a steamship pany t hat hi res men t o wor k in Congo maintains i n it s wait ing room two wom en who kni t black wool—they symbolize the classical Fates. Such a charac。 i ts syll ables, the nar rator tels us, “cast an Eastern enchantment over me. ” Even a locale, or a feature of physical t opogr aphy, can provi de r ich symbol ic suggestions. The caf233。 he hints t hat some sad, pasionate spi ri t i s br ooding as i t watches the passi ng processi on of humani ty. Such an obj ect i s a symbol : in li terature, a symbol is a thing that r ef er s or suggests more than its li teral meani ng. There are quite a l ot of symbols that appear i n or di nar y lif e, for the use of symbol is by no means of l imi ted to li terature and art . For instance, a dove i s a symbol of peace, the fl ag i s the symbol of a countr y, and the c ross i s t he symbol of the Christi an r el igion. These ar e symbols adopted by a whole society and are r ecognized by al members of such a society. There are other kinds of symbol s, such as f igur e 3, which may be abstract symbols. But symbol s i n lit er at ure works ar e dif ferent f rom eit her of the other t ypes. Gener al ly speaki ng, a lit er ar y symbol does not have a mon soci al aceptance, as does the fl ag。, but an i sl and of r ef uge fr om sl eples night , chaos, lonel iness, old age, the meaningl essness of l if e, and impending death. In some novels and stori es, some char acters are symboli c. Such charact er s usual y appear br iefl y and remai n sl ight ly myst er ious. In J oseph Cornar d’ s Heart of Darknes, a steamship pany t hat hi res men t o wor k in Congo maintains i n it s wait ing room two wom en who kni t bl ack wool —t hey sym bol i ze t he cl assi cal Fat es. Such a char act er i s seen as a por t r ai t r at her t han as a per son, at l east por t r ai t l i ke. Faul kner ’ s Mi ss Em i l y, t wi ce appear s at a wi ndow of her houses “l(fā) i ke t he car ven t or so of an i dol i n t he ni che. ” Though Faul kner i nvest s her wi t h l i f e and vi gor , he al so cl ot hes her i n sym bol i c hi nt s: she seem s al m ost to t ypes of sent ence ar e used, what is thei r functi on? Sentence plexity: Do sent ences on whole have a simple or a pl ex str ucture? What i s t he aver age sentence length? Does plexity vary stri kingl y from one sentence to another? Is pl exit y mai nl y due to ( i) coordination, ( i) subordination, ( i ) juxt aposit ion of clauses or of other equi valent str uctures? I n what par ts of t he t ext does pl exit y tend t o occur ? clause t ypes: What types of clauses ar e favored—r elati ve clauses, adver bial clauses, or dif ferent types of nominal clauses? Are non fi ni te for ms monly used, and if so, of what ypes are t hey (i nf init ive, i ng f orm, ed form, ver bl ess st ruct ur e) ? What is t heir funct ion? Cl ause str ucture: Is there anything si gni ficant about clause el ements (eg fr equency of obj ects, adver bi al s, plements。 they point, they hint, or, as Henr y James put i t, they cast long shadows. Symbol ism The t er m symbolism r ef er s to the use of symbols, or t o a set of related symbol s, whi ch i s one of t he devi ces that enr ich shor t ficti on and pensate f or i ts br iefnes in space. 2. There are t wo broad t ypes