Symbolism -The Most Effective Way to Portray Mood in a Story :)

Symbolism is "the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities". Often, symbolism is used to reflect mood in character and settings. These feelings can be portrayed through objects, thoughts, or actual events. For example, Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of the book "Twisted" shows emotion and mood through different symbols throughout the story. Throughout the book, the main character Tyler faces many hardships such as being accused of posting nude images of people online, wanting to kill himself and having a very unsupportive father who is verbally abusive. When Tyler feels sad or upset, that feeling is represented through imagery and comparison. Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism and artistic writing to illustrate the story line by incorporating mood through different craft moves.

In many cases, unpleasant thoughts and feelings are represented by unpleasant objects or occurrences. For example, its is obvious that Tyler is feeling angry and upset when he says "I decapitated dandelions all morning, leaving carnage and death strewn in my path." As you can see, the author doesn't straight out say 'Tyler was feeling upset," she uses symbolism to creatively illustrate the mood. And this line is not only to show how Tyler is feeling, but it also makes the reader feel that way too. When people hear the words death and decapitated, more often than not, they will know that something upsetting is going on in the characters life at that time. Another example of mood through representation is when Tyler says "Me at the end of a rope in a dog collar skating on a frozen pond, world watching on a shaky limb, waiting for me to fall through to the black water below." The part about the rope and the dog collar shows the reader that Tyler feels like he is being held back  and restrained by people, even the ones he loves. As you can see, Laurie Halse Anderson uses a metaphor to represent how Tyler feels about his complicated life.

Unpleasant thoughts and feelings can also be portrayed through inner thinking. A lot of inner thought in books has deeper meanings that what you're reading on the page. For example, after teachers see Tyler getting bullied in school, he says "A couple of teachers saw it. They saw it and they saw nothing." They treated him like like he didn't exist. Obviously, Tyler is feeling victimized by the people around him. No one pays attention to the people who wronged him, they only notices his mess ups. Another example of symbolism through inner thought is when Tyler says "Like it never happened. Like my mother was lying down because of a migraine." The line really connects back to all of the times when his family thought that they were okay, but Tyler knows that they're not. His dad doesn't care, his mom won't come to believe it, but their family falls apart more and more throughout the story. This line shows how much they're really lying to themselves!

All in all, the use of symbolism in stories can artfully reflect the mood a give it a deeper meaning. Different objects, events, and thoughts can make the character feel a certain way, thus also making the reader feel the same. From reading this book, I learned how much more effective symbolism is in setting the mood than just down right saying 'They were sad'. It gives the reader a chance to use their imagination and infer what the mood really is.