Symbolism In The Sixth Sense

Do You Know Why You Are Afraid…?
In the movie The Sixth Sense, Cole describes the anger of the dead, “You ever feel the prickly things on the back of your neck...And the tiny hairs on your arm, you know when they stand up? That’s them. When they get mad...it gets cold.” This quote illustrates two important concepts in the film. Thematically, these characters, especially Cole, have fears that they must face. Conceptually, M. Night Shyamalan uses symbolism to highlight the presence of death in the film. Fear and symbolism are vivid elements that are displayed throughout characters who rely on one another to recognize their distress.
In this film, moving on is a tremendous fear that is illustrated within The Sixth Sense. At the beginning of the

The first time that Malcolm is seen with Cole is at his mom’s house. Cole is hesitant to answer Malcolm’s questions because he is not quite comfortable yet. Provided that, Malcolm decides to play games with him to make Cole feel protected. The coin trick and the mind-reading game are two activities that they play to ease up Cole. Once Cole becomes relaxed, Cole says, “I see dead people…Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re dead…I see them all the time. They’re everywhere.” This is a really important part of the movie because it foreshadows the last scene. That being said, Malcolm addresses Cole and explains that he can comfort himself by supporting the dead people with anything that they have not completed in the real world. Malcolm says, “What do you think these ghosts want when they talk to you?... That’s right. That’s what I think too. They just want help, even the scary ones.” Although Cole is horrified of the ghosts, Malcolm gives him the braveness to speak to one during the scary hours. With this in mind, Cole learns to