They enable an author to deliver an idea or message within a narrative, a message on multiple levels. Symbols add layers of meaning to a story, poem, or other creative work. When we simply see Einstein’s iconic face on a T-shirt, book cover, or advertisement, we immediately know that whoever put that image there was trying to say something related to extreme intelligence. In our culture, Albert Einstein is the ultimate symbol of intelligence and scientific genius. By telling stories of Poseidon’s vengeful fury, the Greeks (who were not great shipbuilders) symbolically delivered a message about how dangerous the sea can be. He is extremely powerful, but also wrathful and unpredictable. In Greek mythology, the Gods are all symbols for forces of nature – for example, Poseidon is a symbol for the sea. However, authors don’t usually give us a roadmap to their symbolism, so it can take a lot of thought to figure out exactly what the symbols in a work of literature stand for -to interpret them. This is one of the most basic and widespread of all literary techniques. Authors often use symbols (or “symbolism”) to give their work with more meaning and to make a story be about more than the events it describes. In literature, symbols are often characters, settings, images, or other motifs that stand in for bigger ideas. Anything can be a symbol, if we make it one.

Einstein symbolizes genius in our culture.

However, symbols don’t have to be the kind of things you only find on keyboards. And of course, we have all sorts of visual symbols that we use every day: $ & = Similarly, every word is a symbol for the idea it represents. It could be as simple as a letter, which is a symbol for a given sound (or set of sounds).

A symbol (pronounced SIM-bull) is any image or thing that stands for something else.

Symbolism in planet of the apes