Symbolism. Literary device

Literary devices

Borisova Maria 2 Ec

Symbolism

Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

• The concept of symbolism is not confined to works of literature: symbols inhabit every corner of our daily life.
• Road signs, logos, and emojis are examples of symbolism – the visuals correspond to ideas, companies, or moods.
• When you see red roses growing in a garden, what comes to mind? Perhaps your mind starts thinking about topics like romance, courtship, and Valentine’s Day. Why would you do this? A rose is simply a plant growing in the dirt, but the reason, of course, is that over the many centuries, the symbolic meaning of a rose has evolved to include amorous concepts.

The earliest recorded forms of human storytelling – cave paintings and hieroglyphics – are quite literally symbols representing more complex narratives or beliefs, so symbolism existed from the very first human paintings.

Religious symbolism

Religious symbolism traces back to the earliest human civilizations. (Example is “The Brothers Karamazov” by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky).

3 Types of Symbolism in Literature

Romantic symbolism

Perhaps second only to religious symbolism, romantic symbolism has pervaded wide range of world literature. (The sonnets of Shakespeare is a perfect example)

Emotional symbolism

Many authors and poets use physical symbolism to describe metaphysical emotions .

Symbolism in “Gatsby”

Fitzgerald uses symbols to suggest the life of Gatsby. He uses the green light to represent the hopes and dreams of Gatsby, Dr T.J Eckleburg's eyes to represent the eyes of God, the Valley of Ashes to show the effects of capitalism and the symbol of time is also repeated throughout the novel.

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