In the essay, ”Is that a Symbol,” Thomas Foster describes symbols from one’s daily life to illustrate the fact that every individual has their own interpretations. An object could mean one thing for an individual but then mean something completely different for another individual. The author uses caves, bridges and rivers as examples of this theme throughout the essay. 

A cave is a feature of nature which everyone knows of, yet the author finds a way to use a cave to further explain his theme. “Was that cave symbolic? You bet. Of what? That, I fear, is another matter” (Page 2). The message here is that knowing the cave is a symbol is easy, however, knowing what the cave is a symbol for is almost impossible to figure out. Everyone has their own interpretations and thus this cave could mean anything. It holds a plethora of possible meanings. Back in the time of early humans, people would live in caves. In this case, the cave would represent a home and adults would have memories of their childhood in which they spent a majority of their time in the cave with their loved ones. Its unlikely that a person today would have that same meaning for a cave due to the fact that people are more developed and don’t live in caves anymore. In modern times a cave could represent an adventure of some sort.

To continue along with this theme, the author references the river from Mark Twains’ novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He states that at the beginning, the river floods which causes the death of Huck’s father. The river in this case symbolizes his freedom. As Huck begins to travel deeper and deeper along the river, the meaning of the river shifts from freedom to the realization that “Huck will never return to childhood” (5). By using just one example, the author shows just how easily the meaning of anything, in this case the river, could change or shift. The Bridge, by Hart Crane, opens with the East river, then to the Hudson river and finally the Mississippi river. Each river symbolizes a different part of America and when they join together then are like people coming together. Other people may think of this as a growing population and how everyone comes from the same home. With these rivers, there is a bridge that connects the land across from each of the rivers together. With this, the bridge is seen as a way of bringing people together. The symbol of a river here now becomes almost the opposite of the Huck’s river. This river symbolizes togetherness and unity between people while Huck’s was a way for him to escape his past. There is just no possible way in which something could have one meaning. Everyone has such a different thought process when it comes to symbols and meanings. 

Life experiences are what influence the way in which we interpret symbols and events. Everyone grows up in a different environment and no one besides family members can truly relate to a person. Events in one’s childhood usually shape their future and how they interpret everything. For example, if a young boy was given a bike by his grandmother and then she passed away, the bike would have a much deeper meaning to that boy. For him, it would symbolize his grandma and the relationship the two of them had with each other before she passed away. On the other hand, if a boy steals a bike from the side of the street, then it obviously won’t have the same effect on the boy as it did in the previous case. The boy would have no emotional attachment to the bike and thus it would be the same as any other bike to him. That’s a different story for the boy whose grandma gave him the bike. In this instance, the bike couldn’t be replaced as a new bike would not hold the same value to the boy. 

The author uses multiple texts throughout his essay in order to strengthen his theme that every individual has their own interpretations. These examples vividly show just how amazing the human mind is and how it cannot be replicated. The author is straightforward with this theme in that he clearly states how he agrees and isn’t swayed by other people. His opinion is proven again and again by examples from history and other works of literature. One example of his straightforwardness is when he says, “ You can’t simply say, Well it’s a river, so it means x, or apple picking, so it means y” (6). He wants his readers to know that there is never a correct answer or a set in stone meaning for anything in this world. What means x to a person could easily mean y to another and vice versa. Why hold something a person’s imagination down to just one meaning when it could expand your mind and openness. He also says, “A reader’s imagination is the act of one creative intelligence engaging another” (7). When you’re reading a book do not simply make meaning of the text based on what you think the writer was trying to say, rather use your own imagination to compile your own theory as to why the text is written the way it is. 

By using vibrant examples like the river and the cave the author is able to thoroughly explain his theme. One aspect of the theme is that an object could mean one thing for an individual but then mean something completely different for another individual. Symbols are interrupted by drawing on one’s personal experiences in life meaning it’s inevitable that each individual would interpret a symbol in their own unique way.