: I have never understood the purpose of digging about for symbolism in and author's work, and comparing the symbolism in 2 authors' works seems ven more of an exercise in academic futility. Perhaps this is a neurological flaw, as I am hardwired more toward logical pursuits: words are logical symbols for objects, emotions, events, etc. Comparison of the symbolism in two disparate works or two authors seemed at best a logical fallacy, and at worst an …showed first 75 words of 320 total…

…showed last 75 words of 320 total…for symbolism. Is there a point--other than assigning a grade--to parsing a writer's words for symbolism? And assuming there is, who's to say that the symbolism percieved by any one doctoral candidate is even valid if there's no corroboration from the writer about what was actually going on in his mind at a given point in a story. If you dwell on such things long enough don't you risk seeing things that just aren't there?