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Symbolism In The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh

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What is symbolism? Maybe you have seen brands with their own symbols or maybe you have a word that is personal to you and your life. What’s the effect that the sign or word has on you? In “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” there are many symbols and meanings, some more complex than others. A young drummer boy named Joby has some struggles while in the army but his mood ends up changing in the end because of some highly relevant symbols and metaphors. In my opinion, symbols are very important. A significant symbol in my life is my grandma. She has taught me many wise things and has made quite an impact on my life.

“You are the heart of the army”(Bradbury 171). The General says this to Joby. This symbolizes that Joby keeps the army moving like a heart. …show more content…

A peach blossom flicked him, but it was a moth. Nothing stayed put. Nothing had a name. Nothing was as it once was.”.(Bradbury 169) This quote is actually one of my favorites because it has an entirely different meaning than it sounds. It symbolizes the confusion and misery at this time. When you think of a moth, you think negatively. It’s a moth, an insect, old and not appealing at all. However when you think of a peach blossom, you think positively. Peach blossoms are elegant, beautiful, and young. In the end, after the General and Joby had their conversation, the author ends with “ He lay next to it, his arm around it, feeling the tremor, the touch, the muted thunder as, all the rest of the April night in the year 1862, near the Tennessee River, not far from the Owl Creek, very close to the church named Shiloh, the peach blossoms fell on the drum.”(Bradbury 172). This time when he brings up peach blossoms, it isn’t a confusion of whether they are moths are not. They are just young peach blossoms.

Joby describes the general as smelling “as all fathers should smell, of salt sweat, ginger tobacco, horse and boot leather, and the earth he walked upon.”(Bradbury 169). This quote is a symbol because it’s using highly descriptive language as imagery in the story. It brings you there as if you were seeing from Joby’s point of view. It also hints that maybe Joby is thinking

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The blossoms symbolize peace. When Joby is on the ground next to his drum after everything was over the blossoms indicate that there is peace. The blossoms can indicate the sadness or the calmness someone feels after a tragical event. When the general tells Joby that he will lead the soldiers into battle, Joby will have to be brave and fearless. When the blossoms fell it meant that Joby was calm or the setting was calm.

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In addition, peach blossoms symbolized the innocence of life before the war and the ability to calm the war down and wave away evil. Also, evidence that shows this symbol shows innocence before the war would be on the night before the war when Joby had a weary face, but after the first day, “the peach blossoms fell on the drum,”(Lines 202-203) indicating that Joby became stern and emotionless, being more prepared for the next

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