4. Theory of Symbol
Symbol is a part of intrinsic elements of literary works. Almost all of literary works have a symbol that is created by the author in order to show the significance
of certain situation, phenomenon, and event presented in the story. The significance of a symbol has a great contribution in building the storyline.
According to Shaw’s idea 1881: 367, a symbol is “something used for, or regarded as, representing something else. More specifically, a symbol is a word,
phrase, or other expression having a complex of associated meanings; in this sense, a symbol is viewed as having values different from those of whatever is being
symbolized. …Many poets have used the rose as a symbol of youth and beauty; a flag is a piece of cloth which stands for or is a symbol of a nation”. Shaw’s idea of
symbol gives the description that between the form of the symbol and something that it symbolizes lays a relation. The two things must have certain values or aspects
that relate each other. The meaning of a symbol, in some conditions, cannot be interpreted only by looking at its literal meaning. It may have something unseen
that has certain information about the meaning. In studying symbols of literary text, the general and specific concepts of the
symbol have to be identified. These concepts may have information about the meaning that can be easily seen or hardly identified by the reader. The unseen things
or information of the symbol is not easily observable. They can be identified by finding the indications or supporting information about the form of the symbol in
the text. As Perrin states that the reader should pay more attentions to the symbolical
meanings. Perrin also gives steps to identify the symbols in literary text. Here are the steps:
1. The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken
symbolically. It means that symbolic phenomena can be identified by repetition, emphasis or position.
2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by
the entire context of the story. It means that the meaning of the symbol can be identified inside the text, not outside it.
3. To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind
from its literal meaning. 4.
A symbol may have more than one meaning. Symbol differs from metaphor and simile in that it does not contain a comparison, but by
virtue of association represents something more than itself. For example, if the cross symbolizes Christianity, its symbolic meaning does not arise
from a comparison Perrine, 1974: 214.
Perrin’s theory of symbol has an effective way to identify and find the meaning of symbols in literary text. The indications provided in the theory, such as
repetition, emphasis, and position of the symbolic phenomena are adequate in supporting the study of the symbols in literary text. The information that supports
the finding of symbol meaning is basically can be acquired from the text.
5. The Relationship between Psychology and Literature
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