Blog 4 Carver, Steinbeck

If you were to read Cathedral by Raymond Carver and The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck without a preset mindset of looking for or expecting symbols these short stories could be very confusing. Each story ends in such a way that the reader has to really think about what they just read and how everything fits together. In Cathedral, Raymond Carver uses symbols in his story, such as blindness and the cathedral at the end of the story. In The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck also uses symbols, such as Elisa’s gardening costume and the chrysanthemums. Both of these stories use of symbols helps to add depth and give a better understanding of the story as a whole.

Carver wrote in such a way that the reader did not gain a full understanding of the symbols until the stories end. When looking at the blindness of Richard throughout the story, it is easy to assume that it is a symbol. This is seen in the first sentence of the story when it says, “This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s, he was on his way to spend the night.”(174). The issue is that you are unable to understand what it is a symbol for until the end of the story. It is seen that blindness symbolizes that just because you can see does not mean you have sight. It is sight that does not use the eyes but goes beyond the visual.  

Blindness ties in well with the next symbol, which is the cathedral. The cathedral symbolizes the process of realizing a lack of sight and then gaining true sight. The narrator tells Richard, “You’ll have to forgive me … But I can’t tell you what a cathedral looks like. It just isn’t in me to do it. I can’t do any more than I’ve done…The truth is, cathedrals don’t mean anything special to me. Nothing.”(182). This shows that physically seeing something or someone does not lead to understanding. The cathedral representing true sight and understanding can be seen in the last few lines of the story when the narrator says, “My eyes were still closed. I was in my home. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. ‘It’s really something,’” (183).

John Steinbeck’s use of symbols in The Chrysanthemums was easily identifiable. The first symbol was Elisa’s gardening costume. The costume showed Elisa was a very strong woman. All of the clothing Elisa was wearing was masculine and illustrates a lack of feminine qualities. One part of her costume that is used a lot were her gloves, “She wore heavy leather gloves to protect her hands…” (416). Later Elisa, “…took off a glove…pulled on the gardening glove again.” (416-17). Her feminine side comes out when she starts to take parts of the costume off, gloves and the hat. Another symbol was the chrysanthemums themselves. They represented all that Elisa has joy and happiness in. When the tinker brings up the chrysanthemums, “The irritation and resistance melted from Elisa’s face…Elisa’s eyes grew alert and eager…”(418-19). These symbolized what Elisa truly wanted her life to be full of.

These stories would lose a lot of the strength behind their meanings without the symbols. The stories could not leave as much of an impact on the readers if they did not have the symbols. They would have been like reading stories in a newspaper with no deep meanings behind them.

Blog 3 Joyce, Chopin, Poe

        James Joyce, Kate Chopin, and Edgar Allan Poe give many examples of an author using setting to reveal things about characters as well as foreshadow events. In James Joyce’s Araby, setting is used to foreshadow events in the story, while in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour setting is used to show the aspects of the main character. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a great example of how setting shows the emotions and attitudes of the main character as well as foreshadowing events.

Joyce uses a consistent setting that foreshadowed events. A good example of this is when the narrator describes the places around his home, saying, “…dark dripping gardens… dark odorous stables… hid in the shadow…” (246). Throughout the beginning of the story, Joyce uses this dark setting to hint that the ending will involve a form of darkness. “… fearing that the bazaar would be closed, I passed in quickly through a turnstile, handing a shilling to a weary-looking man… Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness” (248). The story starts in the dark and ends in the dark. Another example of this is the very last sentence of the story, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” (249). 

In Chopin’s story it is clearly seen how setting is used to describe the main character, Josephine Mallard. “There stood facing the open window, a comfortable roomy armchair…” (337). This alluding to the fact that Josephine feels she has space and is free. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.” (337). Since happiness and joy are associated with spring, readers can see that Josephine has a certain happiness or Joy despite the circumstances she is in. This is alluded to in more detail when Chopin writes, “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” (338). There was a storm that had just passed. The death of Josephine’s husband and the sorrow she was in can be viewed as the storm. Now the clouds are dispersing letting the blue sky show, which can suggest Josephine is happy.

Edgar Allen Poe uses setting really well in The Cask of Amontillado. “It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season…” (525). This one description shows the attitudes and emotions of the main character, Montresor, as well as foreshadowing events. To start, carnivals can be crazy and weird. They are also viewed as “dark events” or as the quote says “supreme madness”. This sets the mood of the story to be weird and dark. It also alludes to the fact that the way  Montresor  kills Fortunato is crazy and dark. While at the same time this suggests that  Montresor  is very crazy and mad. Another obvious one is when they- walk down into the crypt. This instantly hints at a death to come.