Most authors hide certain meanings in a symbol but the the meanings of the symbols could be different from others. In the short story, "Is that a Symbol?", Foster suggested that individuals may have different meanings of symbols because of their values and experience. By looking at repetition, the symbol of caves, and emphasize, we can see that individuals have different meanings. This is important because people shouldn’t judge other people’s values and also, there isn’t a right or wrong meaning to a symbol in stories. 

Foster repeats the word experience through out “Is That a Symbol?” in order to show that people have unique meanings because of their experiences.  Foster states, “Every reader’s experience of every work is unique, largely because each person will emphasize various elements to differing degrees…” (21). Readers will emphasize certain words or images in a passage or story to show what they think the message or theme of the story as well as determining what a symbol represents. In order to find the meanings, Foster state, “…an individual history to our reading, a mix of previous readings…educational attainment, gender, race, class, faith, social involvement, and philosophical inclination” (21). These factors can be experienced that will allow the reader to think if the factors can relate to the message or symbol in the story. In general, Foster wants readers to use their experiences in order to find certain messages in the stories. 

Foster uses caves to show that people have different views or experiences of what the caves represent. Foster explains that Mrs. Moore had a different experience than Adela. Mrs. Moore was terrified of the cave because it was crowded and she felt threatened by the people she was with. On the other hand, Adela experience in the cave was horrible. Even though they experienced the caves in different situations, Mrs. Moore and Adela can say they don’t prefer caves. This is an example on how people have different experiences but can find a similar meaning with the symbols. Foster states, “…Godbole’s message might be that the caves must be experienced before they can be understood or that every person’s caves are different.” When Foster states the quote, readers should think the caves represents values because Foster explains how peoples’ experience can reflect on certain values. Readers should also gather that values can lead them to finding messages or meanings of symbols. Foster used different people’s experiences to show how they found define caves even if people come to a similar meaning. 

During the story, Foster italics the word something to put emphasizes on the word. When Foster uses those words, he is trying to explain how people want experiences, symbols, or other things to have a meaning and how people want it to mean something special to them. In order to have a meaning to something, readers have to dig deeper into the story to find clues that can help them discover the meaning or an experience that could lead to the meaning or message because it is hard finding messages or meanings throughout stories. 

In the story, “Is That a Symbol?”, Foster wants readers to see that individuals have different experiences that can express their values or meanings of images or symbols. Foster wanted readers to see that because there may not be a right or wrong answer to finding meanings in the story or meanings behind symbols since people have different views on how they interpret the meanings in stories or in real life. 