【正文】 single impact. Of course, in l it er ar y wor ks, symbols, unli ke t hose i n ordinar y lif e, usualy do not “st and f or” any one meaning, nor for anyt hi ng absolutely definit e。 on the ot her hand, the whi te whal e is invested with dif ferent meanings for di ferent crew member s through the handling of m ater ial s in the novel. Si mil ar ly, i n Hemi ngway’s A Farewel l t o Arms, r ai n, which is gener aly r egarded as a symbol of l if e ( especial y in spr ing) , and whi ch i s a mi ldly annoyi ng m et orological phenomenon in t he opening chapter , is convert ed i nt o a symbol of deat h through the uses to which it is put in t he work. 3. Sym bols i n fict ion are inani mat e obj ects Of ten symbols we meet i n ficti on are i nanimate obj ects. I n Wil liam Faul ker ’s “A Rose f or Emi ly,” Miss Emily’s i nvisible but percepti bl e watch ti cking at he end of a gol den chain not only indicat es the passage of ti me, but suggests that t ime passes without even being not iced by the watch’ s owner . The golden chain to which it is at ached car ries suggestions of wealt h and aut hori ty. Ot her things may also functi on sym boli cal y. In Jam es Joyce’s “Araby,” the ver y name of t he bazar , Ar aby—the poeti c name for Arabi a—suggest s magic, r om ance, and The Arabian Ni ghts。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。 i ts syl labl es, t he nar ator tel s us, “cast an Eastern enchantment over me.” Even a local e, or a f eature of physi cal t opography, can provide ri ch symbolic suggesti ons. The caf233。 they point, they hi nt , or , as Henry James put it , t hey cast l ong shadows. Symboli sm The term symbol ism refers t o the use of symbols, or to a set of r el at ed symbols, which is one of the devices that enrich short f ict ion and pensat e for its bri ef ness i n space. 2. There are two broad types of l it erary symbols Symbol is gener al ly acknowl edged to be one of the most fr equently employed devices i n poetr y. In works of f iction it is no less f requent and no less i mpor tant . The fact is t hat, when a reader reads a wor k of f iction, his f ocus is mostl y cast upon the plot, the charact er , and the language used, so t hat the symbol s are automat ical ly backgr ounded on t he r eader ’s par t. But in some novel s and st or ies, the symbol ism looms so large that he r eader wil l f ai l t o get a pr ehensive under st anding of the work wit hout payi ng special at enti on t o the symbol s. The Scarlet Let er by Nat haniel Hawthorne is one of such works. The very t itl e points t o a doubl e symbol : t he scarl et let er A worn by Hester conveys a mult iple of senses which dif er greatly f rom what it l iteral y st ands f or , and the wor k event ual y devel ops into a test and cr it que of symbols t hemselves. Thomas Pynchon’s V. continues along much the same li ne, t esti ng an alphabeti cal symbol . Another example is Herman Mel vi l e’ s MobyDick, i n whi ch t he huge white whale in t he t itl e of the book acquires gr eater meaning than t he l iter al di ct ionar y defi ni ti on of an aquatic mammal. It al so suggests more t han the devil , t o whom some of the charact er s liken it. The huge whale, as the stor y unfolds, es to i mpl y an amplit ude of m eani ngs: among t hem t he f or ces of nature and t he whol e universe. Liter ar y symbols are of two broad types: one type incl udes t hose embodying uni versal suggest ions of m eani ng. Flowing water suggests t ime and eternit y, a jour ney i nt o the under wor ld and r et ur n fr om it is interpr et ed as a spiri tual experi ence or a dark night of the soul, and a kind of r edempti ve odyssey. Such symbols are used widel y (and somet imes unconsciously) in west er n li ter ature. The ot her t ype of symbol secures it s suggest iveness not fr om qualit ies inherent i n itself but fr om the way i n whi ch it i s used i n a gi ven wor k, i n a special context . Thus, in Moby Dick the voyage, the land, and t he ocean ar e objects pr egnant with meani ngs that sem almost i ndependent of t he author ’s use of them in the story。 its syl labl es, the nar at or tel s us, “cast an Eastern enchant ment over me.” Even a local e, or a f eature of physi cal topography, can pr ovide ri ch symboli c suggesti ons. The caf233。, but an isl and of refuge f rom sleeples night, chaos, l onelines, old age, the meaninglessnes of lif e, and i mpendi ng deat h. In some novels and stor ies, some charact er s ar e symbol ic. Such characters usual ly appear briefl y and r emain slightly m ysterious. In Joseph Cornard’s Heart of Darkness, a st eamship pany that hires men to work in Congo maintains in i ts wai ting r oom t wo women who knit black wool —they symbol ize the classical Fates. Such a charact er is sen as a portr ai t rather than as a per son, at l east portr ai t like. Faul kner ’s Mi s Emi ly, t wice appears at a window of her houses “l(fā)i ke t he car ven torso of an idol i n the 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