Writer's Fallout Shelter

Heh. I love Firefly.

Um, I'm kinda confused. What definition for symbol are you using? Because that's the only definition I've ever heard of, "something that represents something else." I'm not sure I understand some of your arguments. You say that symbols can't be anything, that they need to be significant, but it is the author who has control of the camera, so to speak. The author points out the significance depending on his/her focus, and as such can make anything significant. One could write about the smallest gesture, the briefest moment. Whilst writing odes to grecian urns or his socks, an author can tag signifigance onto the smallest object or action. What I'm trying to say is that I'm not understanding what you mean by significant as it applies to literature.

(Or maybe they do. That's the tricky thing about themes; it often depends on your point of view.) (Quoting a quote of my own writing. Strange, no?)

Forgive my crude bluntness, but have you ever even taken a literature class? Anyone can, and do, say anything they want about a piece of literature, and it's likely that they can back it up. Unless one has the convenience of the physical presence of the author, one can never be sure that one's interpretation is correct. There are people who swear to the fact that there are hidden allegories in The Lord of the Rings, despite the fact that the author explicitly expressed his distaste for allegory. I've heard, countless times, people arguing two points of view on a work, and either could have been right. Interpretations are just that: subjective, and prone to inaccuracy.

You seemed to have missed the significance of your own example. It was the action of the kiss, and not the cross itself, that was the important symbolism. The cross, as a symbol, was important too, but it was the kiss that symbolized his devotion. In other words, the kiss, an action is symbolic of Reynold's feelings toward that symbol. He doesn't say, "I love and believe in the divine benevolence of our lord God." He, instead, symbolizes this with a kiss.

Actions are symbolic all the time. Raising one's right hand or placing it on a Bible symbolizes an unbreakable oath. A salute symbolizes respect and defferance to another athority. A shrug symbolizes bewilderment. (I would like to know, by the way, an example of a shrug directly relating to the main theme of a novel.) A stamp of the foot can symbolize anger or frustration. A wink can symbolize any number of things. A simple look can speak volumes. I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say actions aren't symbolic.

I'm not saying that a symbol can stand apart from anything in a story. I'm saying that a symbol doesn't necessarily tie in directly with the theme, which is the ideas on which the story is based, not the story itself. I'm not saying anything isn't interrelated, I'm saying that there isn't necessarily always a direct relationship.