blog post #4: symbol

Symbols play an essential role in literary texts for several reasons. They prevent the oversimplification of an author's works.  Not only do they preserve and carry the meaning of the text, but symbols also enhance literary texts because they allow for a greater connection between the reader and the text itself.  In having a symbol, the author is essentially implanting an idea into the reader, encouraging the reader to analyze the text more carefully, and allowing the reader to get a better understanding of the text.  Symbols are also personalized and maintain different meanings for different people, so there is always room for interpretation.  Not only are they personalized, but symbols be anything, such as characters or setting.  Therefore, symbols are very useful to authors and the reader as long as they are used properly.