Synthesize me! Blog post quarter 2 cycle 2

Symbolism is universal in books, and it is really shown in literature if you look deep. Even the smallest thing might become a very important symbol, if you see through its semi-translucent surface. There were four books that I read, which really exemplified how symbols, however subtle, are very important. The first book I read was The Alchemist, by Paolo Cohelo, about a young man who goes to the pyramids to fulfill a prophecy, Sky Raiders, by Brandon Mull about a boy ripped from his home, and enslaved in another dimension, Vietnamerica By Gio-Bao Tran, a true story about an Vietnamese-American boy learning his families history from the Vietnam war, and  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini, a story about two girls living in Afghanistan. Symbols throughout all genres have many symbols that are very important.

In fantasy books symbolism is a lot more free, because you are able to play around with everything that surrounds the character. In The Alchemist, the main character, Santiago at first calls a Character known as Melchizedek "old man", but later, calls him "old king" this subtle change in speech makes a big impact o how we see into his thoughts. He is a lot more reverent of the "old king" now, and also we can see how his thoughts changed throughout his journey. In Sky Raiders, the main character Cole, gets very suspicious of people. At one point he just asks "Weren't you just trying to get rid of me?" Cole is letting all of his insecurities rise up into his character, and he is trying to absolve himself from his insecurities. Cole is trying to keep his luxury of trust, but at what cost? Symbolism in non-realistic fiction is a lot easier to play around with, but not necessarily more meaningful.

In realistic fiction, and non-fiction, symbolism is a little less free, but sometimes that can make it better. These books have often fewer, but more meaningful symbols. In Vietnamerica, Gao-Bao's parents receive a letter from Paris, France. This letter represents all that their family could have been had they moved to France. It represents both the good and bad about that scenario. Also, this letter represents the stark difference between the western world and Vietnam. This is a non-fiction story, so this letter had worth to Gao-Bao's family. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, the main character Marian has ice cream which she had so longed for in her life of poverty, once she had married in an arranged marriage. This first represents all the hope that she has for her new marriage, and her longing for something sweet to hold in her life. Secondly it represents that something that at first seems sweet, may really be ice cold. Even the smallest and subtlest of things can hold symbols that pack a really big punch.

All of these symbols, and all symbols throughout the literary world have at least one thing in common with all of the other symbols. They all represent things that are accentuated in their respective story later on. These symbols may seem very subtle on the surface, and their appearances may seem too sneaky, they are all catchable, and once you catch those symbols, they can make a world of difference in the story. Symbols like these are everywhere, both in books, and in real life, so we can use the knowledge obtained from these symbols to help us with our real life struggles, and to parse all of the information thrown at us. These symbols can help us understand our world.