Add Symbols to Add Depth

The use of symbols is one way to increase the depth of your writing. Many a doctoral thesis has been written on symbolism and there are many that still can be written. This post will only skim the surface to plant a seed, the expression ‘plant a seed’ being a symbol itself, albeit a trite one. However, symbolization is a potent tool in your writing craft kit. The word ‘tool’ here is also a symbol because is a concrete representation of a something abstract.

Webster defines a symbol as “something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance; especially: a visible sign of something invisible.”

Let’s look at two different categories of symbols: “Universal” and “Private”.

“Universal” symbols

Symbols that are “universal”—or symbols understood by everyone—can be tricky. The word “universal” is in quotes because “universal” symbols break down culturally. The Universe is just too big for a symbol. This is a problem now that whatever we write is read by more than one culture. Anyone who has lived in another country, or even read literature from a previous epoch, needs a guide to understand what the symbols mean. That, if they recognize they are symbols at all.

Flower symbolism, for example, is culturally based. Chrysanthemums, the national symbol of Japan for a long life are associated with death in Italy and are used to decorate graves November 1st, the “Festa dei Morti” or Celebration of the Dead, the family that passed away.  Which is also one of the reasons why Halloween had and has a difficult time in the country. However, if a person is writing about Italy they wouldn’t want an Italian man send Chrysanthemums to his lover unless he is sending her a very nasty message. If your readership is American the inappropriatness needs to be explained or shown in someway.

Color symbolism is also culturally based. White is the color that symbolizes virginity and purity which is why wedding gowns are white in Western Culture, but Indian women are married in red. Imagine the looks guests would exchange in a small English town if a bride walked down the aisle in a bright red wedding gown.

Freud and Jung both agreed certain symbols reflect the ability of the mind to hold a distinct piece of information, but they never agreed on the commonality of symbols. Ritual masks rife with all types of symbols from feathers, brushes, colors, expression. They are from all over the world. However if one had horrible pointed teeth, furrowed lines pointed down from the forehead and mouth, horns painted in black, it would probably not pass as a symbol of happiness in any culture.

An apple and snake might not mean a lot to someone who had never heard of Adam and Eve. The red coral that is seen in paintings of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus is there to symbolize the sacrifice (blood) that will redeem humanity, while the lion skin wore by Hercules signifies its strength. (Hall James, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art)

Writers, therefore, need to be careful if they use certain cultural symbols. They will have to conjure up something to trigger recognition by the target audience. In using symbols of a culture such as Welsh animal symbols (e.g. a boar for courage) it has to be made clear to the reader not familiar with the standing of boars in ancient Welsh cultures. This must be done subtly rather than with sentences such as “watch the boar appear in a chapter 5 and the hero will now do something brave in chapter 6.”

Naming characters after Roman gods might work if the readers knew Roman mythology. If they didn’t the writing would have to be strong enough to carry it without the knowledge. The author can use several symbols and hide clues for the reader to decipher. For example, in my novel Daimones, the , the name of Dan’s wife Mary, the reference to early centers of civilization, in particular the Mesopotamian city of Eridu, are key elements in the novel and they are all symbols. Furthermore, the word choice of “Palladium”, the artifact the aliens introduce the transgenic humans to as the center of knowledge: it’s a rare chemical element, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, and Athena is the great goddess of wisdom and the symbol enhances the subtle conflict of emotion, religious beliefs, and logic along with ethics. There’s enough hidden hints for the discerning reader to pick and have “ah ha” moments. For others, it will just be a cute name but you can’t ruin the “ah ha” moment to those readers explaining your symbols. Lay them there, there will be those who will pick the flowers.

This also means that writers can include culturally uncommon symbols if they are used in such a way that some readers will be given the means to understand what the writer is doing. At some level, for some. The reader who knows the symbol system will get a greater understanding of the work.

Private symbols

These are symbols that writers set up for themselves. The only limitation is the writer’s imagination. There are the easy and trite symbols. For example an expensive car represents the attainment of wealth (goals). John Grisham, when he stepped out of genre writing of legal thrillers, used the painting of his childhood home as a symbol of something important in the status of his family certainly far less trite than buying a Mercedes.

The symbol must remain constant through out the piece unless the change is clear to the reader. For example, a Mercedes can represent success but if a man loses his wife because his wife cannot support what he had to do to get that Mercedes, then it also becomes a symbol of failure. However, failure is the other side of success and therefore the symbol mutates logically into something that is related to its original meaning strengthening the power of the symbol.

The private symbol must hold on its own merit. Orwell makes good use of Pigs in Animal Farm to represent capitalists.

Be careful, however, not to over do symbols or be too cunning which will leave a writer open for charges of precious writing.

Many writers have admitted that there are times when critics see symbols in their writing that were put in there subconsciously. Perhaps that is the best use of symbols possible.

The connections between symbol and object should be valid and reasonable in a plain literal sense as well as a metaphorical one, and be consistent through the whole story. “A knife can be a symbol, but it also better be able to cut string. And if it represent cutting free, cutting loose, in the story’s beginning, it better not be used to prop up a bookcase and then forgotten later on.” – Ansen Dibell BEYOND PLOT

PS

All symbols at the top of this post represent the concept of female and woman

Massimo Marino has a scientific background: He spent years at CERN and The Lawrence Berkeley Lab followed by lead positions with Apple, Inc. and the World Economic Forum. He is also co-founder of “Squares on Blue”, a Big Data Analytics service company.
Massimo currently lives in France and crosses the border with Switzerland multiple times daily, although he is no smuggler.

As a Scientist, he envisions Science Fiction and went from smashing particles at accelerators at SLAC and CERN to smashing words on a computer screen.

He’s the author of multi-awarded Daimones Trilogy. 

• 2012 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner in Science Fiction

• 2013 Hall of Fame – Best in Science Fiction, Quality Reads UK Book Club
• 2013 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner in Science Fiction Series
• 2014 Finalist – Science Fiction – Indie Excellence Awards L.A.
• 2014 Award Winner – Science Fiction Honorable Mention – Readers’ Favorite Annual Awards

His novels are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Nook), iTunes Apple Store, and many other retailers around the world.

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