Morley Cigarettes, Rosebud, and My Old Gym Shoes:  Making Symbolism Work
by Emily McKay
Austin RWA

Dealing with symbolism can be a scary proposition. For most of us, the word calls to mind numbing high school English papers. "Discuss the blood symbolism in Shakespeare's blah, bla-blah, bla-blah."  Let's face it. That's the last thing a romance novelist wants to think about when she sits down at the computer. But using symbolism in your own work shouldn't be scary. A symbol is nothing more than a physical object that has personal meaning for the character.

If you give it a little thought, I'm sure you can think of tons of symbols from your own life. My wedding ring represents my commitment to my husband. My Jetta TDI (with it's great gas mileage) represents my commitment to the environment. My favorite shirt (an old sweatshirt from my dad) represents my close relationship to him.  When picking out symbols for your characters, why not look to your own life? Think of the physical things in your world that you value. Now imagine the things that exist in your character's world. What has value for them? And why?  While you're thinking on that, here are a few guidelines to keep you on the right track ... 

Be Unique:

In our culture, we have lots of universal symbols. Things that symbolize the same thing to everyone. Storm clouds in the distance hint at impending doom. A rainbow on the horizon means hope. Red roses mean love.  Those are all perfectly fine symbols, but they add nothing to your character. A good symbol should make your character seem unique and therefore more real. Red roses mean love to everyone, so why not have them mean something different for your character?  Imagine instead a girl who's father brings red roses to her mother. Her parents fight--maybe over the suspiciously long hours he's been working or the lipstick on his collar. In a fit of rage, the mother throws the vase of flowers on the floor, shattering the vase, destroying the flowers, and screaming that she wants a divorce.  For that little girl, red roses will never mean love. For her, they represent anguish. Red roses will always remind her of the moment her family was torn apart.  By choosing to use a unique symbol--or a tried and true symbol in a unique way--you've added depth to your character.

Be Choosy:

As I mentioned earlier, our personal lives are filled with symbols.  While that's a good place to look for inspiration, don't overdo it. One or two powerful symbols will be more .... well, powerful than lots of little symbols. So when picking symbols for your characters and stories be choosy. Remember the movie Citizen Kane? It's arguably one of the best movies ever
made. The shattered snow globe and the muttered word, "Rosebud" are powerful symbols of lost innocence. They tie the story together, they make it work, they draw sympathy from the viewer for a very unsympathetic character. The symbolism makes that movie.  But they would have been a lot less effective if the movie had been cluttered up with a lot of other symbols. We remember "Rosebud" the sled and the shattered snow globe because Orson Wells didn't
gunk up the story with too many other symbols. Take a lesson from Mr. Wells and do the same. Be choosy and be unique. 

Don't Be Too Clever:

Speaking of the venerable Mr. Wells ... It is possible to be too clever in choosing your symbolism. Two examples come to mind. The first is from the TV show the X-Files.  On the show, every character who smokes Morley cigarettes is one of the bad guys. It works well on the show. A mere puff of smoke, the striking of a match, or a glimpse of that distinctive red and white package is enough to send shivers down the spine of an X-Files fan.  But in the X-Files, these symbols hold meaning only for the viewer. The characters never connect smoking with evil. Morley cigarettes are a kind of code, shared between series creator Chris Carter and the audience.  They are his way of nudging us in the side and winking at us. "This guy's bad. Watch out for him," they seem to say.

Citizen Kane has similar insider symbolism. Wells meant the movie to be a scathing criticism of media giant William Randolph Hearst. As it turns out, Rosebud was Hearst's nickname for his mistress's "flower". Using the word Rosebud in the movie was Orson Wells's way of thumbing his nose at Hearst. One final insult to the man Wells couldn't stand.  Yes, yes, you're very clever, Mr. Wells.  But that's not what makes the movie great. Most of today 's audience has never even heard of Hearst, or if we have it's only in reference to the movie. And ultimately, knowing the story behind Citizen Kane gives as much insight into Orson Wells's arrogance and ego as it does into Hearst's.  Just remember, what works on the X Files or in Citizen Kane,
won't work in your romance novel. Those nudge, nudge, wink, wink symbols will only remind your reader that you are there. You're goal is to create a relationship between your reader and your characters. Not between your reader and you. So save being clever for your next dinner party and treat your characters to honest symbolism. Your story will be better for it.

Let Your Characters Grow:

The cool thing about symbols is that you can use them to tell your reader--without really telling them--how your characters are growing and changing. The way your character interacts with his or her symbol will let the reader see how much they've grown.  For example, when I was about
fifteen I lost a pair of gym shoes. They were brand-new, white Reeboks. You see, I wasn't one of the popular girls and I became convinced someone had stolen my shoes as part of a cruel teenage prank.  The theft of the shoes devastated me. I cried for hours. More than just my shoes had been stolen. Those stark white, size nine Reeboks represented my place in the world. Their theft represented my disenfranchisement. My loneliness. My teenage angst.  I don't remember the shoes I took my first steps in or the shoes I wore when I got married, but I can picture those Reeboks in my mind as if they were sitting right in front of me.

In the story of my life, those shoes are a powerful symbol. They represent a crucial step in my development as a woman.  The funny thing is the shoes weren't stolen. Come Monday, they showed up in lost and found. So now when I think of those shoes, they still represent my teenage angst, but I feel differently about them. I'm no longer tormented by their 'theft,' instead I'm amused by my own sense of self-importance. And I feel a little sorry for that girl I was so long ago.  The symbol--the shoes--has stayed the same. How I feel about the symbol has changed as I've grown into an adult. In the story of my life, those shoes could represent my character arc. 

Romance novels are--at their core--novels of personal growth. You should use any trick or tool at your disposal to help your reader understand your hero or heroine's character arc. Symbols are just another useful technique to keep in your writer's toolbox.  Hopefully, my tips have helped demystify symbolism for you. Or at the very least, reminded you to include a few--but
just a few--in your next book. Just remember, you don't have to be Shakespeare to know how to use symbolism.

Emily McKay writes for Harlequin Temptation.  Her debut novel, BABY, BE MINE will be out January 2003.  For more information about her upcoming books and other articles about writing, visit her website at www.EmilyMcKay.com.

Used with permission of the author and the Austin RWA® newsletter.  

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