Irony: Where Meaning Lives Beneath the Surface →
Irony is one of the most versatile devices in literature. It can sharpen a truth, soften a moment with humor, or reveal a contradiction we might otherwise miss. When used well, irony doesn’t merely decorate a narrative — it invites the reader to pause and reconsider what they think they understand.
Imagine witnessing something fall apart and come together at the same time. That tension captures the heart of irony. We’re watching a moment where the expected outcome dissolves and an unexpected meaning begins to form. The contrast between what we anticipate and what actually unfolds creates a quiet pull — an emotional and intellectual curiosity that draws us deeper into the story.
At its core, irony communicates a meaning that runs beneath the surface of words or images. It asks the reader to look again, think again, and notice what isn’t immediately visible.
Often, irony is where the deepest truth hides.
Finding Out What Your Capable Of →
I recently wrote a review of Educated by Tara Westover, and one line from the book stayed with me:
“First, find out what you are capable of, then decide who you are.”
That sentence captures something essential—not just about Westover’s life, but about how many of us come to understand ourselves. Identity doesn’t always come first. Sometimes, it emerges only after we test our limits.
The quote describes what Tara Westover did with her life. She had to make the decisions on her own and take the steps on her own. She was capable of much more.
I also found this comment on the book’s inside cover:
“Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention.”
This quote fascinated me because I wrote the book Why Life Stories Change: As You Look At Your Own Life Story, You See Yourself Differently.
The focus of my book was on how we can reinvent ourselves and how we see our past differently as we look back on it. We can change what past experiences did for us as we rethink them.
Tara Westover found out who she was, as shown in her memoir. Looking back at our life stories can help us discover who we are, and that effort can improve us.
Give some thought to your life story. Find out what you can do, and then keep doing your best.
See this website's Review of this book, Educated, A Memoir Review of this book, Educated, Memoir on this site.
My full review of this book was reprinted in the St. George, Utah News in 2019
Originally published in 2019. Updated and reframed in 2024
The Symbolism of Choice in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman →
The Graveyard Book, a unique tale set in a graveyard where a boy is raised by the deceased and other eerie entities, is a captivating narrative that surprisingly delves into themes of family and fate.
The book's narrative unveils the author’s intended symbolism, particularly the significant role the community plays in the upbringing of a child. This underscores the theme of fate versus free will, as the choices made by the parents ultimately led to their demise, shaping the child’s future.
The child’s life was a series of choices that led to the inevitable fate of leaving the graveyard and venturing into the real world. The specific options that awaited him remained a mystery, but the dead parents, with tears in their eyes, guided their son toward his unknown destiny.
Symbolism in Literature and the White Whale Moments →
In literature, symbolism produces an impact by attaching additional meaning to an action, object, or name. Symbolism takes something actual and associates it with something else to change the meaning.
Repetition plays a significant role in literature, making symbols familiar and well-known to the reader. Common signs such as colors, animals, seasons, and weather are used repeatedly, enhancing the reader's knowledge and connection to the text.
In the novel “Moby Dick by Herman Melville, two interesting symbols, among many, in this novel were the ship’s captain, Ahab, and the Whale. To Ahab, the White Whale represents the power that limits and controls man. Ahab sees the whale as evil and something he has to conquer. Ahab perhaps saw himself as God-like. His nature was charismatic, but he seemed obsessed with the need for power over this whale. The name “Ahab” must have had a symbolic meaning for Melville because Ahab is named after the biblical story of Ahab in the Books of Kings 16:28–22:40, the evil idol-worshipping ruler.
"Moby-Dick” was named after a real-life whale called Mocha Dick, named after the Chilean island of Mocha, where sailors first encountered him. This real-life inspiration adds a layer of authenticity to the novel's symbolism.
The whale’s whiteness was another symbol used by the author, which was at least a symbol of fear and a metaphor for obsession. It served to focus on Ahab’s need to conquer. The choice of white as the color might imply purity or innocence, suggesting that Ahab’s focus was restoring justice through retribution, which he had made his lifetime task as the real evil. Whales tend to be light shades of dark grey, blue, brown, and black. Perhaps the symbolism in having the whale white justifies the hate because it is different.
Ahab’s chase across the oceans of the world isn’t just one of chasing a white whale but one of pursuing the symbolic God that the whale represents. This pursuit is not just a physical journey but a spiritual one, where Ahab is seeking to conquer the ultimate power, which he perceives the whale to embody.
Something that someone pursues obsessively and with little chance of success is what a white whale moment has come to mean. An example of this would be referring to a problem or something that will never get finished as our white whale.' white whale moment' has come to mean. An example of this would be referring to a problem or something that will never get finished as our 'white whale ', a reference that has become a part of popular culture due to the novel's enduring influence.
The story becomes a profound investigation into the meaning of life, inviting readers to delve into their own existential questions. A significant symbol used by the author was at least a symbol of fear and a metaphor for obsession. It served to underscore Ahab’s relentless need to conquer. The choice of white as the color might imply purity or innocence, suggesting that Ahab’s focus was on.
6 only of Dr. Seuss's Books will not be published anymore →
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker.
In a significant move, only six of Dr. Seuss’s books by Theodor Seuss Geisel will no longer be published due to their use of offensive imagery, as announced by the business overseeing the estate of the beloved children's author and illustrator.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in this statement:
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. (Because of racist and insensitive imagery)
The discontinued titles are:
“McElligot's Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” “The Cat's Quizzer,” “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” and “If I Ran the Zoo.”
This was a subjective decision and opinion by the estate and family that own the rights to the books. They believe those few books are still hurtful, and it is their right to make that decision, which we, as a community, respect.
Dr. Seuss Taught Us to Love the Messages Hidden in Stories →
Dr. Seuss was a creator of remarkable range, a writer, illustrator, political cartoonist, poet, and filmmaker whose stories reached far beyond childhood entertainment. Across more than sixty books, he used playful characters and imaginative worlds to carry ideas about kindness, fairness, responsibility, and human nature.
What made his work so enduring was not just its rhythm or humor, but its symbolism. Seuss understood how to turn simple images into lasting meaning. A creature, a journey, or a conflict became a mirror for larger truths, allowing readers to absorb lessons without feeling lectured.
Born Theodore Geisel in 1904, he adopted the name Dr. Seuss in the 1920s as his creative career began to take shape in magazines and cartoons. Like many artists of his time, he produced some early works that reflected harmful stereotypes, a reality that also highlights how much his thinking and values evolved over the years.
That growth becomes clear in later stories, such as The Sneetches, where difference and division are explored through simple yet powerful symbols. Beneath the playful surface lies a message about tolerance, belonging, and the cost of prejudice, themes that continue to resonate across generations.
Dr. Seuss showed that symbolism doesn’t need to be complex to be meaningful. Sometimes the most lasting truths arrive through the simplest stories. His characters didn’t just entertain us, they taught us how to notice injustice, question division, and imagine a kinder world.
(Dr. Seuss’s name is Theodor Seuss Geisel)
Huxley's thoughts about Orwell →
The information below is taken from an article in the Atlantic Magazine January/February 2017 issue. They stated that their thoughts were taken from this book: Letters of Note.
Aldous Huxley to George Orwell: My Dystopia Is Better Than Yours
On October 21, 1949, a few months after the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell received a letter from Aldous Huxley, whose Brave New World had been published 17 years earlier. Huxley concludes:
“Within the next generation, I believe that the world’s rulers will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient as instruments of government than clubs and prisons and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into obedience. In other words, I feel that the nightmare of Nineteen Eighty-Four is destined to modulate into the suffering of a world having more resemblance to that which I imagined in Brave New World.
The change will be brought about due to a felt need for increased efficiency. Meanwhile, there may be a large-scale biological and atomic war—in which case we shall have nightmares of other and scarcely imaginable kinds."
Why did Vardaman thinks his dead Mother was a Fish? →
The book As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner—and the review featured in this site’s book review section—includes a memorable and peculiar comment from Vardaman, one of Addie’s five children. After Addie dies, Vardaman declares, “My mother is a fish.”
This surreal line gains some context when we recall that Addie’s coffin had been floating down the river, reminding Vardaman of an earlier experience. He once caught a fish and cut it into pieces, observing that once dismembered, it was clearly no longer a fish. That transformation—the loss of identity through physical change—stuck with him.
Even with this backstory, Vardaman’s statement still strikes us as strange. Why did Faulkner have him say this?
Perhaps it's an extreme form of conciseness, reducing language to its most essential elements to enhance meaning by stripping away redundancy.
Or maybe it's meant to be symbolic, even profound. Is it religious? Could it suggest that Addie’s soul has moved on, just as the fish once did? Or is it simply the expression of a child’s limited understanding of death?
Most likely, it reflects Vardaman’s confusion—his attempt to make sense of loss with the only framework he has. The fish was once whole, alive, and recognizable; once cut apart, it became unrecognizable—not a fish. In Vardaman’s mind, the same logic applies: Addie was his mother, and now, having died, she is no longer his mother. She is a “not-mother.” And if the fish became something else, perhaps his mother has, too.
So she becomes a fish.
*Vardaman Quote
“It was not here. I was there, looking. I saw. I thought it was her, but it was not. It was not my mother….It was not here because it was laying right yonder in the dirt. And now it’s all chopped up. I chopped it up. It’s laying in the kitchen in the bleeding pan, waiting to be cooked etc.”
Symbolism in the book "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway →
Writers use symbolism to explain an idea or concept to their readers in a poetic manner without saying it outright.
Hemingway was a master of this technique, so this book is full of symbolism, beginning with the title, but much of it boils down to a writer obsessed with masculinity. That obsession takes us to bullfighting, which is symbolic of sexual seduction when two beings face each other in a game of skill, where one wins and the,e other is hurt or even killed with a sword. Sex seems to symbolize masculinity rather than an object of i.
The story starts in Paris, which symbolizes romance, where Jake's lost love, Brett, meets with him. He tells her of a war wound that has left him impotent. Brett tells him she loves and always will, but she rejects him because of his impotence. Jake gathers some friends from the lost generation, and they go to Spain for the bullfights and other macho activities. Brett goes with them.
The chapters on bullfighting flip back and forth, complimenting their fly fishing trip, drinking, sex other very masculine activities.
Hemingway's outlook seems to be summed up by two of his characters, Cohn and Jake, when they say, "I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not living it." "Nobody ever lives life all the way up except bullfighters."
Symbolism in Steinbeck's book, The Pearl →
A few symbolic things in this novel are The pearl, plot, characters, the ocean, and the child, but there is much more.
Kino is 3rd generation as a pearl diver, and the uncertainty of the ocean reinforces the futility of ever doing better. The scorpion represents more uncertainty with the sudden presence of evil coming into their lives. It attacks the innocent child, and to save her, they need anti-venom. Anti-evil to save an innocent child adds blame and irony to the resulting problems of good fortune. Even when the need for the anti-venom goes away, a different type of evil from those pursuing Kino and his wife kills the innocent child with a stray bullet.
The Pearl is more significant than any previous one and suggests that this low-income family's fortunes can change. When it comes time to toss the pearl back into the ocean, the pearl's great value emphasizes that well didn't come from potential wealth.