Journal 3 Inanimate objects

Many times in literature the author uses a specific object to symbolize a certain thing to a certain character. Sometimes the object will not symbolize the same thing to different people but will have a different meaning for each character, but each meaning are equally important. In Othello one of the major and important objects in this play is the famous handkerchief. Othello gave this handkerchief to his wife Desdemona as their first present. The handkerchief symbolizes the love that Desdemona and Othello share. Once the handkerchief is lost by Desdemona and the idea of a love affair occurring between Cassio and Desdemona is input into Othello’s mind and the handkerchief receives a different meaning. The handkerchief now symbolizes distrust, dishonesty and disloyalty. Othello uses story about this handkerchief to try to guilt Desdemona, the audience never knows  whether the story is true or made up. This handkerchief is important to Cassio’s plan, so without this essential item, his plan to take down Othello would not have fulfilled. In  Lord of the Flies the conch shell is one of the major symbols. This shell symbolizes power and whoever contains this shell contains the power of being in charge of everyone else. There is a power struggle in this story because while one of the boys wants to survive and stay safe and the other boy wants power and to be in charge. This conch shell means leadership and communication to one boy while it means dictatorship to the other boy. Also in  the Lord of the Flies Piggy’s glasses are a very important symbol, it symbolizes survival. Piggy’s glasses are used to start the fire, and when the fire goes out it is essential that they start it again because they always want to have the fire going just in case someone flies over the island, they will see the fire and get help. His glasses are essential for their survival because if they never started the fire then they may never have gotten of the isolated island. The author uses specific items to help convey the theme and improve the story line.