It may come from my study of literature during the pursuit of my bachelor’s degree in English, but I love the idea of using objects to symbolize emotion. Certainly, this occurs outside of literature. Our society is teaming with symbolic gestures. Wedding rings symbolize the commitment or bond between married partners, while engagement rings similar a promise of commitment.
Even elements found in nature hold symbolic meaning. Keep this in mind when writing about the environment of your characters or the gifts they exchange. If your hero gives your heroine a bouquet of pink roses instead of red roses, a very different meaning is conveyed to your reader than you might have intended. Maybe you meant to suggest feelings of admiration, but if your novel is a romance, your reader will be looking for that universal gesture suggested by the receipt of a dozen red roses.
Even the long stem rose can hold a symbol all its own. Maybe the long stem represents a potential for long lasting love. I think of red roses as being very classy, I even get an image of a long-legged classy woman when I think of a long-stemmed rose. If you are stepping outside of universal meanings for symbols definitely be sure to define it for your readers. Have fun with symbolic gestures to add more depth and originality to your writing.
1 comment:
This is really quite symbolic!
These days symbols really mean a lot.
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