The first use of symbolism is used to describe the mental hospital in which Douglas is staying in. He describes it as an “empty dolls house” which “stood incongruously and desolate with dead leaves blown against its open doors”. The Dolls house, symbolic of the hospital is described as being incongruous suggesting that it is out of place, it doesn’t fit in. The fact it is desolate highlights that the hospital is in a bad condition. The dead leaves symbolise the patients of the hospital. They are fading away. They have lost all colour and vitality in their lives. They don’t have a chance. The patients of the mental hospital are obviously very unhappy with their lives.
The next form of symbolism is used to further describe the patients of the hospital. They are described as sitting “bloated and desiccated” like “rotten fruit dumped on vinyl chairs”. Rotten fruit is symbolic of the patients. They have been dumped in the hospital by society and left to rot away. The fact they are described as rotting fruit helps emphasize the bad condition that the patients are in. They do not have a chance. They are stuck in the hospital with no chance of recovering. A rotten piece of fruit cannot be revitalised and much is the same with the patients. ‘Vinyl chairs’ gives of a very tacky image and helps emphasize the vile surroundings in which they are stuck in.
These two uses of symbolism effectively portray the mental hospital as being a horrible place to live but more importantly help us to notice that the patients are desperately unhappy. For the patients of the mental hospital happiness is very hard to achieve.
Symbolism is also used to portray that other people, not just the patients are also unhappy with their lives. Before Douglas was taken in, he was a paper boy delivering free papers to a posh part of town. During this round he peers through one of the rich residents window and describes what he saw as an “empty film set where no drams where played out”. A film set has a superficial connotations as every thing is places there for a reason. It also gives the impression that the room, even though in immaculate condition is lifeless. The fact that no dramas where played out in a normal family is hard to believe. This leads us to believe that the rich in society are also finding happiness hard to achieve.
The author further uses symbolism to portray Douglas and his family as also being unhappy.
We can see that Douglas and his family are unhappy when Douglas’s three children come to visit him on Christmas day. Douglas tries his best to entertain them in the gloomy environment. He offers one child a Satsuma on to get the reply “Satsumas are horrible this year”. This seemingly harmless comment has a deeper meaning once we appreciate that the Satsuma is actually a winter fruit. The Satsuma is symbolic of Christmas time for the children. It has been ruined by Douglas being taken into the hospital. This effectively tells us that in this particular point in time, Douglas’s children are finding happiness hard to achieve.
After receiving this comment Douglas says “that pulpy, sodden Satsuma was all that was left of his heart” The symbolism of the Satsuma representing Douglas’s feelings effectively tells us that Douglas is very unhappy. He fully realises that he has ruined his children’s Christmas and cannot forgive himself for it. He has finally succumbed to the depressing and repressing environment of the hospital and is finding happiness very hard to achieve.
Overall the author has very effectively used symbolism to convey the stories main theme that happiness is hard to achieve. She manages to use symbolism to tell us that the patients, the rich in society and Douglas are all finding happiness very hard to find.
The use of symbolism has greatly added to my enjoyment of the text since it allows the theme to be very clearly recognised allowing you to fully appreciate the text as a whole.