Stories should be an authentic experience for readers, and for the authors to bring this realism, they use themes, characters, subplots, and symbolism. One of the simplest methods in a story analysis is symbolism. It is significant as it turns a typical place, person, color and object into something beyond literal. For instance, white represents purity, shackles symbolize slavery, and babies represent unlimited potential and innocence. The symbols are universal as people have similar ideologies about them. However, signs can also have individual meaning that interrelates to a specific character in the story. Thus, whether the symbol implies a certain feeling or is universal, it can add a layer that draws readers deeper into a story. Symbolism reflects in the stories “Young Goodman Brown,” “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” and “A&P” through the use of strangers in their plots.
In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” she uses writing skills such as symbolism to get across different themes to the readers. The story revolves around the grandmother, with a somewhat artificial sense of goodness, and a criminal who symbolizes evil. The stranger in this peculiar literature is the misfit who brings out the theme that everyone has shortcomings and inadequacies. He has taken time to examine his experiences and consider the actions which he has learned lessons from them (Hani 50). The author uses the misfit to reveal the self-awareness that the grandmother lacks. The misfit acts according to his beliefs and has a more steady view of life than the grandmother, whose moral code falls apart when challenged. The story’s plotline speculates that the grandmother exempts her self-righteousness while she is no better than the misfit himself.
In “Young Goodman Brown,” the wretch resembles an ordinary man, which suggests that everyone has the capacity for evil. The story is about how Goodman Brown journeys to the woods where he meets a man who is persuading him they go together. But Brown is reluctant until he finds his wife’s ribbon, which makes him lose his faith. The stranger in the story is a man whom Hawthorne addresses as decently dressed and resembles all other men in the village (Kharbutli and Al-Omoush 53). The presentation of the man in the plotline was to facilitate the downfall of Goodman Brown. He symbolizes that the prince of darkness can appear in any form and not necessarily out of place. The emphasis on evil being a chameleon in nature proposes that the devil embodies all the worst parts of a man. It signifies that every wrong we participate in resembles the evil in us; we should not expect that the devil is an extraordinary thing.
“A&P” is a narrative that expounds on the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is about Sammy, who is nineteen years of age and works as a grocery store clerk. On a particular day, three girls visit the store wearing bathing suits (Huy Bắc 9). Everyone in the store finds this dressing inappropriate except for Sammy, who chooses to quit his job as the manager, and is rude to three girls. The story features the three young girls as strangers in the plotline; they symbolize rebellion. Through them, Sammy begins realizing that being different and rebellious is okay. He chose to quit his job; he believed being at the grocery was not his call. Thus this girl presenting themselves was a life changeover, for he never cared how his parents would take it, but he was not ready to be a clerk in a grocery store anymore.
From the analysis of the three stories, it is clear that the strangers are used in the stories’ plots to expound on different perspectives. Different characters in the field of a story present different meanings. The themes, character traits, and sense of the story are expounded through symbolism in the story. Moreover, symbolism usage is to address a potentially controversial piece discreetly rather than approaching it directly. Complex ideas in the three storylines have been easier to understand, as one can interpret and think about the authors’ words independently through symbolism in their plots.
Works Cited
Hani, Mohammad. “Analysis of Social Problems in A Good Man is Hard to Find By Flannery O’Connor. “ English Community Journal, vol 3, no. 1, 2019, p. 342. Universitas Muhammadiyah Palembang.
Huy Bắc, Lê. “John Updike and an Itinerary Determine the American Identity.” Journal of Science, Social Science, vol 60, no. 5, 2015, pp. 3-11. Journal of Science, Hanoi National University of Education.
Kharbutli, Mahmoud, and Ishraq Al-Omoush. “Socio-Psychological Alienation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Asian Social Science, vol 17, no. 3, 2021, p. 55. Canadian Center Of Science And Education.