“ Symbol is an object, which stands for something else. In a poem, it is a word, which, while signifying something specific, also signifies something beyond itself. There
is the differences between image and symbol we have to infer the meaning and associations. According them, the symbol is used when writer wants to express an
apprehension of something in his mind, which is not directly observable in everyday world. The writer has to use a symbol because he can only convey his non rational
apprehension of something by using objects and words the familiar word.” John Peck and Martin Coyle, 1984:71
“ A symbol is a word that stands for or points to reality beyond itself. The words can be used to describe about symbol are represents, suggests, evokes, and expresses.”
Richard Gill,1985:30 “ Symbol is a thing that suggest more that its literal meaning in literary text. He
devides symbol into two kinds. They are conventional and Private symbol.” Mario Klarer,1976:140
2.2.1 Kinds of Symbols
According to Kasim 1999: 68 there are two main types of symbols , namely Conventional or Universal symbol and Private or Personal symbol.
2.2.1.1 Conventional Symbols
Conventional symbol is symbol, which made through consensus, and its meaning has recognized by a society . Traditional symbol are the object, which have become
symbols through the years of use. Some images become symbols through their use in
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religion and folklore. It is called traditional symbol. The cross, for example , was once part of the image of crucifixion , later has become the symbol of Christianity . Symbols
which evolve out of religion or folklore , or out natural imagery, such as the tide which symbolizes, among other things, time and eternity, become symbols by the consensus of
a large number of people who frequently come in contact with particular associations of the image which produce symbols. The following objects have been considered bearing
conventional symbols for centuries, some of which are reflected in religious practice and can also be found mythical story and literature, they are crescent and star are the symbol
of Moslem, water are the symbol of purification and redemption, garden are the symbol of paradise, desert are the symbol of spiritual aridity, morning are the symbol of hope, red
are the symbol of spirit, passion, green are the symbol of growth, hope, wing are the symbol of inspiration, relief. There are, of course a lot more of objects that might bear
traditional symbols, and the examples are by no means exhaustive.
2.2.1.2 Personal Symbols
Some authors do not use commonly accepted symbols conventional symbols, but create their own symbols. The problem with non – traditional symbols is that readers
do not inherently understand them. Since that symbol can work only when there is a consensus of meaning between the author and readers, the author must present or create
his own symbol using the context of the literary work to make the symbol clear. Non – traditional symbols are sometimes called personal symbols. He or she must be both
efficient and effective. He or she must do something to give valuable to symbol. He or she gives us a little pieces information that serve as clues or pointers for symbols. E.g. In
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Day September by Faulkner, dust is the symbol of spiritual drought, in the Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, wing field photograph of the symbol of Amanda’s
youth when she was in Blue Mountain. From the describe symbol, it can be concluded that symbol is the person, natural,
and man – made objects, word, phrase, setting, character, which are used to represents abstract ideas and feeling and symbol classified into two, they are conventional and
private symbol.
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CHAPTER III THE ANALYSIS OF SYMBOLS IN ARTHUR MILLER’S THE
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
3.1 Symbols of Diamonds
Willy Loman is an insecure, self-deluded traveling salesman. Willy believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, but he never achieves
it. Nor do his sons fulfill his hope that they will succeed where he has failed. When Willys illusions begin to fail under the pressing realities of his life, his mental health
begins to unravel. The overwhelming tensions caused by this disparity, as well as those caused by the societal imperatives that drive Willy, form the essential conflict of Death of
a Salesman. Despite his desperate searching through his past, Willy does not achieve the self-realization or self-knowledge typical of the tragic hero. The quasi-resolution that his
suicide offers him represents only a partial discovery of the truth. While he achieves a professional understanding of himself and the fundamental nature of the sales profession,
Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life. He cannot grasp the true personal, emotional,
spiritual understanding of himself as a literal “loman” or “low man.” Willy is too driven by his own “willy”-ness or perverse “willfulness” to recognize the slanted reality that his
desperate mind has forged. Still, many critics, focusing on Willys entrenchment in a quagmire of lies, delusions, and self-deceptions, ignore the significant accomplishment of
his partial self-realization. Willys failure to recognize the anguished love offered to him by his family is crucial to the climax of his torturous day, and the play presents this
incapacity as the real tragedy. Despite this failure, Willy makes the most extreme
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