Elements of Fiction (84)

Element 84: Symbolism

When I think of Symbolism as a fictional element I usually object because the symbolism is too obvious, too beating-me-over-the-head. Of course, when used discretely, as a sibling to Imagery, it can burrow deeply in the reader’s mind and work wonders.

Not too many writers have expounded on Symbolism, just a few (that I’ve come across, that is).

Martin Smartt Bell supplies a nice definition, “Symbolism. The systematic use of something in a narrative to represent something else — often the use of some concrete object to stand for an abstraction.”

He goes on to elaborate,“Imagery tends to evolve organically from the total context of all the meanings a story generates. What an image may suggest, represent or “mean” tends to be organically rooted in the world that the story creates. Symbols, by contrast, have a more fixed definition, which may be recognized outside the narratives in which they occur (while images are likely to be more wholly dependent on the stories which give birth to them).”

Stephen King has this to say, “Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create a sense of artificial profundity. None of the bells and whistles are about story, right? Only story is about story.”

“Symbolism (and the other adornments, too) does serve a useful purpose, though — it’s more than just chrome on the grille. It can serve as a focusing device for both you and your reader, helping to create a more unified and pleasing work.”

Eudora Welty reflects, “Symbols have to spring from the work direct, and stay alive. Symbols for the sake of symbols are counterfeit, and were they all stamped on the page in red they couldn’t any more quickly given themselves away.”

“So are symbols failing their purpose when they don’t keep to proportion in the book.”

“However alive they are, they should never call for an emphasis greater than the emotional reality they serve, in their moment, to illuminate.”

And that’s all she wrote.

Happy writing.

© Wolfstuff