【正文】 and wor ds ar e also symbols. (P. 218. Oxf ord Concise Di ct ionary of Li ter ar y Term s. ) A symbol i s a t hi ng that suggest s mor e than i ts l iter al m eaning. I t exist s widely even i n our dai ly l if e. Our l anguage it self i s sym bol . The dai ly gr eet ings indi cat e that the pasage of m uni cat ion i s open. Ring i s a symbol of eter nit y. The sign of c ross indicates atonement. The Bi g Ben sym bol izes London, the Gr eat Wal China. Rit ual isti c act s are symboli c. I n church wedding t he bri de is handed over fr om t he fat her t o the gr oom . Hol y eati ng is symboli c of m uni on, bapti zi ng cleansi ng and r ebir th. The rai si ng and loweri ng of a nat ional fl ag cer tainl y suggest m eanings l ar ger t han t he act s themsel ves. And f inal y toasti ng and shaking hands on f orm al or i nf orm al occasions. As rhetor ical device, symbol i s di f erent fr om m et aphor , whi ch is l it eral y f al se but f igurat ively t rue. Unli ke al legory, which r epr esents abstr act t er ms l ike “l(fā)ove” or “t rut h,” symbols are per cept ible obj ects. I n li terat ur e alm ost anyt hing—par ti cul ar objects, char act er s, set ing, and act ions—can be symbol ic i f the author wishes to m ake i t so by either hint ing or insisti ng that the m at eri al means mor e than i t l it era l y does. Symbols are suggest ed through speci al t reatment such as i mager y, r epet it ion, connotati ve language, or ot her ar tist ic devices. In F. Scott Fi tzger ald’s novel The Great Gatsby, a huge pai r of bespect acl ed eyes stares across a wi ldness of ash heaps fr om a bi l boar d adver ti si ng the servi ces of an ocul ist. Repeat edl y appear ing i n the stor y, t he bespect acl ed eyes e t o mean mor e than simpl y the avail abi li ty of eye exami nat ion. A character in the stor y par es it to the eyes of God。 i t is, rather, a symbol the poet or t he wri ter adopt s for t he pur pose of his/ her wor k, and i t i s to be underst ood onl y in the cont ext of t hat wor k. I t dif fers fr om t he ki nd of symbol i l ustr ated by t he fi gur e 3 because i t i s concr et e and specif ic. A poet or a wri ter uses s ymbols f or the same reason he/ she uses simi les, metaphor s, and i mages, et c: t hey hel p t o expr ess his/ her meaning i n a way t hat wi l appea l t o the senses and t o t he em otions of the r eader . Most symbols, in l it er atur e and everyday l if e as wel l, possess a tr emendous condensi ng power. Thei r focusi ng on t he relat ionshi ps bet wen t he visibl e (audible) and what they suggest can kindl e it int o a single impact. Of course, i n li ter ar y wor ks, symbols, unl ike t hose i n ordinar y li fe, usual y do not “st and for” any one meani ng, nor for anything absolutel y def ini te。 for i nst ance, the ways sent ences ar e connected. This i s the int ernal or gani zat ion of a t ext . Under context, r oughly the mat er ial , m ent al, per sonal, i nteracti onal , social, i nst it ut ional, cultur al, and histor ical sit uat ion in whi ch the discourse is m ade, we consi der t he ext er nal r elati ons of t he li ter ar y t ext or a part of the t ext , seeing i t as a di scourse pr esupposing a social r el ation bet ween its par ti ci pant s (author and reader , char acter and char act er, char act er and r eader, etc. ), and a shar ing of knowl edge and assum ptions by part ici pants. Cohesi on: Does the t ext cont ai n l ogi cal or other li nks bet ween sentences ( eg coor dinati ng conj uncti ons, l inking adver bials) , or does it t end t o r epl y on im plici t connect ions of meani ng? What sor t of use is made of cr oss r eference by pronouns (she, i t, they, et c), by substi tut e for ms ( do, so, et c) , or el li psi s? I s t her e any use m ade of elegant var iati on—the avoidance of r epet it ion by subst it ut ion of a descr ipt ive phrase (as “the ol d lawyer ” substi tutes f or the r epeti ti on of an ear li er “Mr Jones”)? Ar e m eaning connect ions rei nforced by r epet it ion of words and phrases, or by repeatedly using wor ds fr om t he sam e semanti c f ield? Cont ext : Does t he wri ter addres the r eader di rectl y, or t hr ough the wor ds or thought s of some f ict ional character? What li ngui st ic clues ( eg fi rst per son pr onouns I , me, m y, mine) ar e t her e of the addr eser addr esee rel at ionshi p? What ati tude does the author impl y t owar ds his/her subj ect? If a character’ s wor ds or t houghts ar e repr esented, i s thi s done by di rect quot at ion, or by some ot her method (eg i ndir ect speech, f ree i ndi rect speech) ? Ar e there si gni fi cant changes of st yle wi th respect to di f erent per sons ( nar rat or or char act er ) who i s supposedly speaki ng or thi nki ng the wor ds on the page? What i s the poi nt of view of the stor y? Ar e t he fr equent shi ft s of poi nt vi ew? If so, in whose voice i s the nar at or speaking? Chapter Seven Symbol What i s sym bol ? Symbol, in the sim pl est sense, anythi ng that st ands f or or r epresent s somet hi ng else beyond it—usual y an i dea convent ional ly associ at ed wi th i t. Obj ect s like f lags and crosses can functi on sym bol ical y。, but an i sl and of r efuge f rom sl eepl ess night, chaos, loneli ness, ol d age, t he meani ngl esness of li fe, and impending death. In some novels and stor ies, some characters ar e symbol ic. Such character s usual y appear bri ef ly and r emain sl ightl y mysteri ous. I n J oseph Cornard’ s Heart of Darkness, a st eamship pany t hat hir es men to work i n Congo mai nt ains in it s wait ing r oom 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 hou