In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, both novels introduce a tree as a significant element. Boo Radley’s tree in To Kill a Mockingbird represents communication among Boo, Jem and Scout. Meanwhile in A Separate Peace, the “suicide tree” represents jealousy and growth. Likewise, the tree in both stories ultimately draw too much concern to other characters causing the interactions with the trees to be put to an end. In To Kill a Mockingbird Nathan Radley seems to dislike the communication between Boo and the kids so he fills the tree hole with cement.
" This opening sets the tone for the rest of the poem, conveying a sense of melancholy and nostalgia. The poet observes the tree as a symbol of natural beauty and simplicity in contrast
In reality, the woods symbolize danger. However, in literature the wild is a symbol of a safe place and freedom. It allows characters to do what best for themselves and get away from the government that controls every aspect of their lives. When the government takes over, society morphs into the wild and the wilderness becomes a safe haven. In the stories Anthem and The Hunger Games, characters use the woods to escape brutal law enforcement, as a place to find love, and a place for a fresh start.
Jewett uses imagery as a tool to make the audience feel what the character Sylvia is feeling. Jewett uses phrases such as “More than all the hawks, and bats, and moths, and even the sweet-voiced thrushes, was the brave, beating heart of the solitary gray-eyed child” (49-52) to have the audience see what the tree itself feels. She uses this imagery to give personification to the tree, as the tree can feel too; the tree is a living thing just like Sylvia is. Jewett uses the point of view to sell to the audience how Jewett dramatizes the story more than diction and
The tree signifies the decisions and changes Janie makes throughout her life. Things that are done are her marriages. She cannot undo many things including herself experiencing passionate feelings for the wrong people and Nanny's perspectives on marriage which constrains Janie to marry Logan. She suffers in her marriages with Logan and Joe on the grounds that they both makes it harder for her to discover her freedom. However she enjoys her marriage with Tea Cake and surprisingly encounters a genuine love, the easy ecstasy of being with somebody.
In the novel, trees are a prevailing symbol, as it represents the life and growth of the protagonist mental recovery after being raped. The reoccurring use of trees allows readers to understand Melinda feelings beyond the words, as readers are able to visualize her feelings literally. Readers of YA readers use symbolism as a way to understand the mood of a novel; at the beginning of the novel, Melina selects a tree as her yearlong art project, where she is asked make her “object say something, express and emotion, speak to every person who looks at it” (Anderson 11). As struggles to express emotion through her tree, she is equally incompetent with sharing what occurred the night the police was called.
The recurring use of trees allows readers to understand Melinda feelings beyond words, as readers are able to visualize her feelings literally through art. Readers of YA readers use symbolism as a way to understand the mood of a novel; at the beginning of the novel, Melina selects a tree as her year-long art project, where she is asked to make her “object say something, express and emotion, speak to every person who looks at it” (Anderson 11). As struggles express emotion through her tree, she is equally incompetent with sharing what occurred the night the police was called. Her meager attempts to construct her tree reflects her misery, “I’ve been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning…..
The tree acts as a symbol of growth and strength, something that Melinda tries to find in her life after her rape. As the story goes on, Melinda watches a real tree being cut down and listens to her father explain, “He’s not chopping it down. He’s saving it. Those branches were long dead
Dana Gioia’s poem, “Planting a Sequoia” is grievous yet beautiful, sombre story of a man planting a sequoia tree in the commemoration of his perished son. Sequoia trees have always been a symbol of wellness and safety due to their natural ability to withstand decay, the sturdy tree shows its significance to the speaker throughout the poem as a way to encapsulate and continue the short life of his infant. Gioia utilizes the elements of imagery and diction to portray an elegiac tone for the tragic death, yet also a sense of hope for the future of the tree. The poet also uses the theme of life through the unification of man and nature to show the speaker 's emotional state and eventual hopes for the newly planted tree. Lastly, the tree itself becomes a symbol for the deceased son as planting the Sequoia is a way to cope with the loss, showing the juxtaposition between life and death.
The journey to the tree is the journey to rebirth and hope. In the Holy Bible, a tree symbolizes hope and rebirth. In the second chapter of the Holy Bible, Adam and Eve eat from the the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Taylor-Weiss). As a result, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobeying by kicking them out from the Garden of Eden. Human life changed after God cursed creation.
Names have always held power in literature; whether it is the defeated giant Polyphemus cursing Odysseus due to him pridefully announcing his name or how the true name of the Hebrew god was considered so potent that the word was forbidden. In fact, names were given power in tales dating all the way back to the 24th century B.C.E. when the goddess Isis became as strong as the sun god Ra after tricking him into revealing his true name. And in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, names have a much stronger cultural significance; and in the case of the character known as “Beloved”, her name is essentially her whole existence. Morrison shows the true power a name holds in African American literature through the character known as “Beloved”, as her role in the story becomes defined by the name she is given and changes in the final moments of the chapter.
In this article, the tree symbolizes truth. It is ironic that Washington cut down the tree when he was all about being truthful.
Near the end of the novel she observes, “In the years she had been tying scraps to the branches, the tree had died and the fruit turned bitter. The other apple trees were hale and healthy, but this one, the tree of her remembrances, were as black and twisted as the bombed-out town behind it.” (Hannah 368) The apple tree represents the outcomes of war. It portrays the author’s perspective that lives wither and lose life due to such violence.
Into The Woods The musical “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine is a metaphor for life in many ways, but the most prominent one is the woods symbolizing life itself. The prologue song “Into The Woods” is about each of the character’s dreams and wishes. Cinderella wishes to go to the festival, Little Red Riding Hood wants to deliver bread to Granny, and the Baker and his wife want to have a child, even though the witch cursed their lineage.
“Schoolteacher’s nephew represents a dismissal by whites of the dehumanizing qualities of slavery”. When Sethe is raped, schoolteacher observed how her body is exploited. The scars on Sethe’s back are so many that they resemble the trunk of a tree with its branches. Sethe bear scars on her back because she was whipped due to her try of escape. Amy Denver, a white girl that helped Sethe when she was running away from Sweet Home, calls the tree a chokecherry tree.