sebastianv50

The best symbolism I have ever seen in a work of literature would probably be in the short story "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck. I know there are a lot of others, but that's the best I can do right now.

Alien Redrum

I heard The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has a lot of religious themes in it, but I have not read it in a while to point out any examples.

Fool's Crow by James Welch is pretty packed with symbolic references. We picked it apart in a Lit. class I had in college.

The Stand by Stephen King is layered with symbolic references as well.

But then again, it's all in the reader's eye too. Author's probably don't put nearly as many symbolic reference's in their books as reader's find. Not intentionally anyway.

-Steve

Startide

If the symbolism is to be effective, a short story often lets the symbolism pack a bigger punch. A long novel might have several symbolisms in it, but the scope of the book can distract.

From stories that I've read, fanfiction often has a bunch of vivid symbolisms built in where each character or event is described almost like an icon. However, the storytelling ability of fanfics is almost always less than that in the professionally published books, so that's the other side of the coin.

Occasionally, some books excel at both storytelling and symbolism like "Advise and Consent" (Pulitzer) by Allen Drury. However, I prefer reading the lighter sequel "The Promise of Joy" which is much watered down. heh heh

I'm sure there are better examples, but my brain is foggy right now. Back to Sakura Con!

jjamesc

I haven't read the book since high school, but it seems that in "Scarlett Letter", Hester's daughter provided a LOT of symbolism.

J

josh2cool4u

I believe it would be The Great Gatsby

Kerers

A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens is a master of every literary device known to man.

milkdog

I've always loved the end of Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King.