【正文】 they point , they hint, or , as Henr y James put it , they cast long shadows. Sym bol ism The term symbolism ref er s t o the use of symbol s, or to a set of rel at ed sym bol s, whi ch is one of the devices that enr ich shor t fi cti on and pensat e for i ts bri efnes in space. 2. There are t wo broad types of li terary symbols Sym bol i s general ly acknowl edged t o be one of the most fr equentl y employed devi ces i n poetr y. I n wor ks of f icti on it i s no less fr equent and no less impor tant. The fact is t hat , when a reader r eads a work of f icti on, hi s focus is most ly cast upon the pl ot, the character, and the l anguage used, so that the symbol s are aut omat ical y backgrounded on the r eader ’s part . But i n some novel s and st ori es, the symboli sm looms so l arge t hat the r eader wi l f ai l to get a prehensive understanding of t he work wi t hout payi ng special at ent ion t o the symbols. The Scarlet Let er by Nathani el Hawt horne i s one of such works. The ver y t it le point s to a double symbol: t he scarl et l et er A worn by Hest er conveys a mult iple of senses which di f er gr eat ly fr om what it l it er al y st ands f or, and the wor k event ual y devel ops into a test and cr it que of symbols themsel ves. Thom as Pynchon’ s V. cont inues al ong much the same li ne, t est ing an alphabet ical symbol . Anot her exam ple i s Herm an Melvi le’ s MobyDi ck, i n which t he huge white whal e i n the t it le of the book acqui res gr eat er m eaning t han the l it er al di ct ionary def ini ti on of an aquatic mammal. I t al so suggest s mor e than the devil , to whom som e of the char act ers l iken i t. The huge whal e, as t he st or y unfol ds, es to i mpl y an am pli tude of meani ngs : among them the f or ces of natur e and the whol e uni ver se. Li terar y sym bol s are of t wo broad types : one t ype includes those em bodyi ng uni versal suggest ions of meani ng. Fl owi ng wat er suggests t im e and et er nit y, a j ourney int o the underwor ld and r etur n fr om i t is i nterpr et ed as a spi ri tual experi ence or a dark night of t he soul , and a ki nd of redem pti ve odyssey. Such symbols ar e used wi del y ( and somet imes unconsciousl y) in wester n li ter at ure. The other t ype of symbol secures i ts suggestivenes not fr om quali ti es inher ent i n i tself but f r om t he way in which it i s used i n a gi ven wor k, in a speci al cont ext . Thus, in Moby Di ck the voyage, t he l and, and t he ocean ar e obj ect s pregnant wi t h m eani ngs t hat seem alm ost i ndependent of t he aut hor ’ s use of t hem in t he st or y。 he hi nt s that som e sad, passionat e spir it is br oodi ng as it watches the pasi ng pr oc ession of humanity. Such an obj ect i s a sym bol : in l it eratur e, a symbol is a t hing t hat r ef ers or suggests mor e t han i ts l it er al meani ng. There ar e quit e a lot of symbol s that appear in or dinary l if e, f or the use of symbol is by no means of l imi ted t o li te r at ure and ar t. For instance, a dove is a symbol of peace, t he fl ag is t he symbol of a count ry, and t he cr oss i s the symbol of t he Chri st ian r el igi on. These ar e symbol s adopt ed by a whole society and ar e recogni zed by al l members of such a societ y. There ar e other kinds of symbols, such as f igure 3, whi ch may be abst rac t symbols. But sym bol s in l it eratur e works ar e dif fer ent f rom ei ther of the other types. General ly speaki ng, a l it er ary symbol does not have a m on social aceptance, as does t he fl ag。 f or inst ance, the ways sent ences are connect ed. This i s the i nternal anizat ion of a t ext . Under context , r oughl y the m at eri al , mental, personal , inter act ional , social , i nst it uti onal, cult ural, and histor ical si tuati on in whi ch the di scourse i s made, we consi der t he external relat ions of the l it er ary t ext or a part of the t ext, seeing i t as a discour se pr esupposi ng a soci al r elati on bet ween it s par ti cipant s (author and r eader, char act er and character, char act er and r eader , et c. ), and a shar ing of knowledge and asumpti ons by par ti ci pant s. Cohesi on: Does t he text contai n logical or ot her l inks between sent ences (eg coordi nat ing conjunct ions, linki ng adverbi al s), or does i t tend to reply on i mpl icit connecti ons of m eaning? What sort of use i s m ade of cross ref er ence by pr onouns ( she, it , t hey, etc) , by subst it ute f orm s (do, so, etc), or el ipsis? I s there any use made of el egant var iat ion—t he avoi dance of repeti ti on by substi tuti on of a descri pti ve phr ase ( as “t he old l awyer ” subst it ut es for the r epet it ion of an earl ier “Mr Jones”) ? Ar e meani ng connecti ons r einf or ced by repeti tion of wor ds and phr ases, or by r epeatedly usi ng words f rom the same semant ic fi el d? Context: Does the wr it er addr ess the r eader dir ect ly, or through t he words or thoughts of som e fi cti onal char act er ? What l inguisti c cl ues (eg f ir st person pronouns I, me, my, mi ne) a re there of t he addr esser addressee r elati onship? What at it ude does t he aut hor i mply towards hi s/ her subject ? I f a char act er ’s wor ds or thought s are r epr esented, is t his done by dir ect quotati on, or by some other method ( eg indi rect speech, fr ee indir ect speech)? Ar e t her e signif icant changes of styl e wit h r espect t o dif fer ent persons (nar ator or character ) who is supposedly speaki ng or thinking the wor ds on the page? What i s the point of view of t he st ory? Ar e t he fr equent shif t s of poi nt vi ew? If so, i n whose voice is t he nar r at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Sym bol What i s sym bol ? Symbol, i n the sim pl est sense, anythi ng that st ands f or or represent s somet hing else beyond it—usual y an i dea convent ion