(*There are spoilers in this post. Proceed with caution)
I’ve had my blog now for a year and half and I have changed as a reader, writer and a blogger. I have started to notice and take note of things in novels I would have never done as a freshman in high school. Growing in literature greatly shows how I’ve grown as a person and I’m proud of myself for going in this direction. My growth has introduced this new post on my blog: Symbolism.
You might be twitching at the idea. My friend is probably sighing because we go over literary devices every single day. Honestly, though, I understand the novel much more when I look into it further. I also think it’s so cool to look at things in a way most people don’t (;
I recently received two books from Little, Brown; How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr and Bunheads by Sophie Flack. (Both reviews are up if you are wondering). The plots of both of these novels begin in the winter and end in the spring. Until these books, I never realized how much a season could play in a novel.
(I found the image here)
Winter represents ‘the end’ because of the dying of the plants and because it is the end of the year. The cold and darkness (darkness because of the shortened day) can also represent loneliness and suffering. How to Save A Life has a girl who leaves her house to live with another family. But this happens in the winter. Mandy, the character who leaves, is lonely because she’s a pregnant teenager with a mom that doesn’t want her. Not to mention that along with her loneliness, she’s suffering and she’s also afraid/nervous of the life she’s walking into. She’s ending one life to walk into another.
When people think of the spring, they think of new life or a fresh start. Mandy ends her old life and begins a new one. In Bunheads, the protagonist also begins a new life. These books magically ended in the spring…weird, isn’t it?
You know those girly summer romance novels? There is a reason why they all take place during the summer! Summer symbolizes frivolity, happiness and all those other synonyms of the word ‘fun.’ Though it puzzles me why there is so much drama in those novels…
There’s a chance that an author doesn’t even consider the placement of the year when writing his/her novel. Some authors just write to write and others write with a deeper meaning. I enjoy understanding the deeper meaning (if there is any). You may enjoy it like I do or you may not. Still, I hope you got something out of this post. It’s not difficult to see ideas more clearly; all you need to do is read more carefully.
I would love to read your thoughts! Leave them below (:
(Lost in) Believing in Books 