see the page of the International Nabokov Society
In "Symbols and Signs", comment on one or more of the following aspects:
1. Use of deictics
2. Character description - the son
3. Contextual references and relation to the time the short story was written (1948)
2. In the text “Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nabokov, we get to know the story of Russian immigrants whose son is committed to a sanatorium. In this short story, the son plays a significant background role in intensifying the mood of the narrative.
ReplyDeleteRight from the beginning, we can tell that this son is not a normal young boy, which is accentuated by the use of the strong adjective “incurably” to describe him “... who was incurably deranged in his mind”. Additionally, it is also noticeable that he does not appreciate either human beings or objects “man- made objects were to him either hives of evil”, which allow us to reflect on the peculiarity of this character. Therefore, the first paragraph gives the reader a brief description of this boy's personality: unusual, paranoid and dangerous.
Another interesting element resides in the parents´ unsuccessful attempt to visit their son “the subway train lost its life between two stations…” “The bus they had to take next was late and kept them waiting a long time on a street corner…” All of these issues can be seen as a premonition and an allegory for the son: the parents are forbidden from visiting him and, consequently, all these complications can be seen as a metaphor for the boy´s complicated mind…
Besides, the boy´s referential mania is central to the plot because it is where we fully understand the character´s nature: his mind never stops thinking and overanalyzing everything around him in an attempt to find meaning “Everything is cipher and of everything he is the theme”. The description is very detailed and there are comparisons with natural elements “clouds, sky, trees…” as well as a very colorful language and comparisons “ like glass surfaces and still pools”; There seems to be also a certain accusatory tone in the description “because he considers himself to be so much more intelligent than other men”.
To conclude, the description of the boy is, in general, very dark in which the use of certain adjectives contribute to it. Besides, there is a whole sphere of silence, not just from the boy´s character but also from his parents “She knew his moods and was also silent”... The text is composed by lots of adjectives and words, but the silence of the characters speaks louder.
In "Symbols and Signs" we are confronted with a very unique story telling tecnique, accomplished especially by the odd use of language and the characters' descriptions. Firstly, its essencial to mention that most paragraphs start with deitic expressions regarding place or time, describing the scene right away ("For the fourth time", "At the time", "During", "In silence", "Outside"...). The narrator points out to everything that's considerably important to set the scene, showing us the where, when and how of what he's going to talk about. We are only pointed to the who of the scene a couple times, which is not common as I'd say most texts or literary works would start by prioritizing the "person" in this context (the beginning of paragraphs). We could maybe say that it shows a greater concern to the space and context than its characters.
ReplyDeleteAltough this story has an infinite amount of really interesting points that would be worthy to talk about, the son's figure is probably one of its most proeminent topics. This happens even though we, interestingly enough, never connect with him directly as the omniscient narrator focuses more on the parent's point of view, emotions and life during the days we follow them. We only have a free pass to people's opinions on the son, what everyone says he has or does. Even when the parents go to visit him, only a nurse talks to them. This can be one of a few factors that could make us think that the narrator is not one hundred percent reliable, being maybe biased on society's point of view on the son's disease. Not, of course, meaning he was a healthy person. We know that (according to the mother) he always had symptoms of some kind of mental disorder since he was a kid: phobias, fear of random normal things like wallpaper or pictures in books, suffering from intense insomnia.... Now he is described as incurably insane, suicidal, obsessive and paranoid young adult, although not dangerous to others. We never learn anything good about his personality, anything funny or normal he did as a child.He seems to be limited to the image of insane man, and not even his parents seem to think of him in any other way. We overall only receive indirect signs regarding this character, not knowing his story, emotions or even what happens to him in the ending, being able to construct his personality however we want. Maybe he was a victim of life circumstances that contributed to the worsening of his condition, maybe society just excluded him because they couldnt understand him, or maybe he was just insane and would end up really commiting suicide. In any way, he doesnt seem to be able to fit in the world as others know it as he was exhausted from everything he sees and thinks every object was trying to tell him something, making it unbearable to live with the constant analyzing.
3. I would like to offer a retrospective view of Russian-American relations circa 1948.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian-American author. His short story “Symbols and Signs” is about an elderly Soviet immigrant couple living in New York, which served as a major hub for Soviet immigration. One of its themes is the paranoia felt by the couple’s mentally ill son. The son’s so-called “referential mania” leads him to believe that all the signs and symbols that surround people on a daily basis, which are typically dismissed as accidental and irrelevant, are actually a disguised reference to himself.
In my opinion, the story illustrates that not everything needs a meaning. Therefore, while I may be overreaching due to my complete access to the historical context surrounding this period and the straightforward interpretation of sentences such as “All around him, there are spies.” (p.3, ll.6-7), I believe it is still worthwhile to examine the following ideas.
The aforementioned motif of paranoia reminds me of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (1947-1991), particularly because it shows a Soviet family in the United States. Following WWII, when many foreign spies were caught on American soil, the fight for control was waged covertly on both sides through psychological warfare and espionage. As a result, there was widespread distrust and anxiety, although not everyone was aware of every detail of these happenings at the time. During this period, emigration from Russia to the United States was highly restricted. Meanwhile, Soviet spy rings have existed since the 1920s, employing Russians, foreign-born nationals, and Communists of American descent to conduct espionage in the United States. According to the short story, “anything in the gadget line, for instance, was taboo” (p.1, ll.10-11). Since the term “gadget” is frequently associated with espionage, the narrative lends credence to this interpretation.
This is highly speculative, but it is possible that the author was attempting to convey the uneasiness prompted by a post-World War II rise in tension, doing so through the dramatic imagery of a mentally ill individual in despair at feeling constantly watched from all sides.
Given the aspects to comment, the one that I would like the most to comment is the character of the boy since it is a very interesting one. In "Symbols and Signs" we have 3 main characters which are the boy and his parents who came from Russia. In this story the boy is set to have certain mental problems since it is said that in more than one occasion he tried to take his life. Apart from this, there are other negative "signs" towards the boy and the family as in the day of his birthday everything went wrong (the train, bus...) as if they were bad omens. In the end, an unknown caller calls the parents saying the name Charlie but they don't know anyone with this name. When the second telephone rings, we see a more suspenseful and concerned mother as she thinks it may be the same person calling or worse, the sanatorium in which the boy is being held. After reading this really good story, I interpret that the boy is killing himself due to his illnesses but that the parents are killing him as well as said in the text by having him there. I also feel that this thought may have to do with world events concerning Russians in the USA and the way they felt back then.
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