LitCourse 3
How to Read: Finding meaning 
11

 

Evaluating Literature—symbols

Symbols convey and enlarge meanning, telling us indirectly what the author doesn't have to.

• Thelonius Monk (jazz musician)—unbound by convention; innovative, spontaneous, just like Doc.
• Christmas—a time of birth, new beginnings.
• Powder—covers roadways and signs—there are no guideposts in life; creates a fresh, unknown world, open to new possibilities.
• Roadblock—removing the roadblock "unblocks" the way forward into a new life for the son.