Are there any tips for symbolism in stories?

Some are universal. Lions for instance. Others aren't like you say. For those an explanation is needed I'd suppose. Jean Auel did so in Clan of the Cave Bear I believe. Explaining why a Bear was settled on. She also did this for other symbolic animals, which was fine and didn't interrupt the story.

Ken said:

Some are universal. Lions for instance.

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What's universal about lions?

Strength, I'd say. (Of course there are never truly universals. There are always going to be some who don't ascribe. But if nearly all do, then the term universal can be used IMO.)

If you want people to take a particular message away from the book, you probably should explain the symbol in some fashion. Otherwise, people may assume it means something else or fail to notice it symbolizes anything at all.

It depends on who you anticipate might read the story. If the majority of readers will understand the symbolism immediately, then there's no need to explain it.

Example: In the US, if you want to call someone a coward, you'd probably call the person a chicken. In Italy, on the other hand, the go-to animal would be a rabbit. If you're writing for an American audience and decide to use the "rabbit" insult, you'll want to make it clear that Rabbit = coward. Otherwise the audience may guess that the rabbit comment refers to some other characteristic: big ears, breeding a lot, fast reactions, buck teeth, etc. However, calling someone a "chicken" is so ubiquitous among Americans that no explanation would be necessary. If you were writing for an Italian audience, the scenario is flipped.

...do I need to take some time to explain the symbol?

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A straight-up explanation may be a bit more than you need. You could probably convey the meaning through the story's context or the reaction of other characters. Even using it as a simile would be enough.

I think if you explain the symbolism in your story, in your story, it defeats the purpose of using symbolism in the first place. I think the symbols in your story mean what you want them to mean, and what gives them meaning is how you use them.

To use an example from television, in Hannibal the stag is a symbol of death, of the desire to kill, the dark side, Hannibal himself, etc. Are stags associated with those things in Western or American culture? Nope. Do viewers understand more or less what the stag represents on Hannibal? Yep. Do viewers debate what the true symbolism of the stag really is? Yep. And that's what makes symbols interesting in the first place.

Tazlima said:

It depends on who you anticipate might read the story. If the majority of readers will understand the symbolism immediately, then there's no need to explain it.

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Absoluetly true. But be aware that some may have a different take on your symbols, and that is also fine

So frex I was not brought (and am not) Christian. Therefore many Christian based symbols fly right over my head and I may, in fact, see different things in the symbols you do use

This may well not affect my enjoyment of the book.

I;ve said on here before, when I first read LOTR I thought it was clearly a pagan work. I mean so many symbols were culled from various mythologies, symbols I recognised for one thing but meant something else in fact...I was astounded to find out it was actually Christian in nature.

It didn't stop me enjoying the book so much I have a tattoo reffing my fave character...

kuwisdelu said:

What's universal about lions?

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Exactly - I thought the lion was MGM. Universal's the planet, still, right? (And I miss the Tristar pegasus...)

Anyway, as has been mentioned symbols - even seemingly-universal symbols - may have different meanings in a specific work. For instance, lions. Sometimes they represent nobility or bravery. But they might also represent savagery or the brutal power of primal instincts - they're a top predator in their ecosystem, after all. And recent research indicates that lions steal kills from hyenas more often than hyenas steal from lions; maybe lions could represent deceit in a story. To a character from Africa, lions might represent her homeland or her lost childhood. You have to give the reader some context clues so they know what you're representing with a given symbol, especially the first time or two you bring it up. That doesn't mean bashing the reader over the head - "This LION represents ROYALTY, 'cause this orphaned boy's really the LOST PRINCE you keep hearing about!" - but tying the symbol in with the message somehow.

Mostly, don't force the symbols down the readers' throats. Try to weave them in with some subtlety; it's better to accept that some readers may not get your brilliant lion symbolism than to turn off everyone by halting the narrative to explain it.

Brightdreamer said:

Exactly - I thought the lion was MGM. Universal's the planet, still, right? (And I miss the Tristar pegasus...)

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Aww, yeah, the pagasus - I miss that clip of him jumping over the big logo.

Brightdreamer said:

Anyway, as has been mentioned symbols - even seemingly-universal symbols - may have different meanings in a specific work. For instance, lions. Sometimes they represent nobility or bravery. But they might also represent savagery or the brutal power of primal instincts - they're a top predator in their ecosystem, after all. And recent research indicates that lions steal kills from hyenas more often than hyenas steal from lions; maybe lions could represent deceit in a story. To a character from Africa, lions might represent her homeland or her lost childhood. You have to give the reader some context clues so they know what you're representing with a given symbol, especially the first time or two you bring it up.

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My novel is set in ancient Egypt, so I had to provide some context for all the religious symbolism I use. In Egyptian mythology, the goddess Sekhmet is a lioness who is sent to punish mankind for conspiring against Ra. But she kills so many there will be none left to worship the gods, so Ra dyes beer red with ochre and pours it in a big lake, and she laps it all up, thinking it blood, then falls into a drunken stupour. I play on this myth a lot in my novel, referencing excessive beer consumption as pacifier/loss of control, but also inverting it as an incitement to wrath, red dye being used to play tricks on people, and lionesses being associated with vengeance. Because thats a lot of complexity to get across, I have someone quote this myth right in chapter 1, fittingly as he is about to get drunk

So yeah, I think if you need to set out the context, then do so, but try to make the explanation part of the story/scene, rather than an obvious piece of exposition.

kuwisdelu said:

What's universal about lions?

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King of beasts? But many of the world's people have lived in places where lions didn't exist until modern times (in zoos and narrative). And it's entirely possible that people had different takes on them in different places too. Were Asiatic lions (before they went extinct) also regarded as kings among animals, or did tigers (which can be even larger) get that honor?

What cultural context does this story take place in? And how are you planning on using your animal symbol. Is it going to appear as a real entity at set times in the story, or is it going to be something your protagonist dreams or has visions about, or is it simply going to be something he or she thinks about from time to time?

Roxxsmom said:

And it's entirely possible that people had different takes on them in different places too. Were Asiatic lions (before they went extinct)

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They're not extinct! Yet... there's like, 400 of them still in India. Maybe if they had more prominence in novels, people would adopt them and fund breeding programmes and new habitat n stuff. So... put more asiatic lions in your bewks, people!

Cool, I thought the poor things only lived in captivity now.

And then, there's the 'Lion King's daddy lion, brave and protective. The actual male lion, who, we've found out, on taking over a pride, kills all the last head lion's cubs to make room for his own. Suddenly, if the lion is a symbol for the father or the step-father seems more important.

Tip No. 1: Don't strain to create a symbol in narrative.

Tips No. 2-897,455 are the same.

caw

What blackbird said.

You may want to differentiate - is the symbolism something that's active within the story, within the pov of story characters? Or is the symbolism something that functions on the external level between writer and reader?

Symbols that are part of the story itself probably need to be contextualized & possibly made explicit within the narrative, just like all the other moving parts that make the story work.

Symbols that exist as part of the meta-narrative for readers to interpret, which are meant to add additional layers of meaning to the story, need a more subtle approach unless the goal is to beat the reader over the head with The Meaning. (And it's probably best to assume that many readers may miss the symbolism altogether, or interpret it differently than you intend. Because they will.)

Mr Flibble said:

Absoluetly true. But be aware that some may have a different take on your symbols, and that is also fine

So frex I was not brought (and am not) Christian. Therefore many Christian based symbols fly right over my head and I may, in fact, see different things in the symbols you do use

This may well not affect my enjoyment of the book.

I;ve said on here before, when I first read LOTR I thought it was clearly a pagan work. I mean so many symbols were culled from various mythologies, symbols I recognised for one thing but meant something else in fact...I was astounded to find out it was actually Christian in nature.

It didn't stop me enjoying the book so much I have a tattoo reffing my fave character...

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I was raised Christian but never paid attention when my parents dragged me to church; I might as well have never gone

As for LOTR - and it touches on your point about different takes - I've seen some who claim it actually refers to the ancient Cult of Saturn, so there you go.

I'm wondering if I misunderstood something in AndreF's post. Rather than saying he's looking to embed symbolism in his story, it feels like he's looking for something more overt in the narrative. Like if I came up with a new race of people who worshiped turtles, for instance, and they were waving turtle banners and singing turtle songs and having turtle feasts. I feel like that's what he means, as opposed to having a subtle turtle theme as an undercurrent. Know what I mean?

Maybe I'm just crazy.

The thing about symbolism is that if you bang the reader over the head with it, it ceases to become a symbol, and thus loses its power or mystery. If it's really important, find a way to weave its meaning into the story as subtly as possible. If it is another layer that adds depth but is not vital, trust the reader enough that they will get it and know that if they don't it probably won't detract from the story.

Agreed--finding a symbol should be more organic and subtle.

It's easy to find out what connotations an animal has through some basic Googling. Just do a search for lion mythology or things like that.

Ultimately, though, readers are going to take away what they take away, and no matter how "universal" your symbol is, people will find different interpretations and nuance in it. All you can do is write for your best reader, write the story as you see it unfolding, and don't try too hard.

I was fortunate enough in a short story class to have a substitute teacher who was a poet. His advice about symbols and symbolism was to regard them as a kind of cliché. In a practical exercise he asked us to develop meaning for a symbol through narrative. He preferred it if we took a well known symbol and worked our stories to create a new meaning for that symbol. For instance, I chose to try and personalise the symbolism of the cross. I'm not sure how successful I was, but the exercise certainly was a good way to really consider how we place meaning on every day objects and things. I mean, when we agree that a particular thing has a specific meaning (and there are books dedicated to this) we quickly realise that all connotations related to that thing are manufactured, and usually by the imagination. And like a cliché, they lose their impact when we lazily use them in our original work.

So, my advice would be to disregard agreed upon meanings and do the exciting work of creating your own. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but it might just add more depth to your narrative.