In Thomas C. Foster’s short essay “Is That a Symbol?”, he discusses the many symbols and ideas that are conveyed in texts throughout history and how some symbols may be the same but they can often have different meanings. This is an interesting concept that he chose to examine because symbols are almost always used in texts and the meanings of those symbols are important as the author is trying to further an idea or concept to the reader in order to enhance his or her’s writing. When close reading the text “Is That a Symbol?” it becomes apparent that Foster is trying to further the idea that symbols are not only important to writing, but their meanings are usually up to the interpretation of the reader making the literature much more timeless as the discussions on those symbols and their meanings will continue to last for generations. 

Foster begins his essay discussing how it is often easy to find symbols in texts but the next part of determining what that symbol means is where it starts to become difficult. Foster states in his essay, “It’s the next question where things get hairy: what does it mean, what does it stand for? …I usually come back with something clever, like ‘Well, what do you think?’… Seriously, what do you think it stands for, because that’s probably what it does” (Foster 18). This is an important concept because Foster is saying that the meanings of symbols are often left to the interpretation of the reader. This causes symbols to have many different meanings from reader to reader, and as a whole makes the text much more wholesome as readers of the text will discuss their opinions on what they think those symbols mean in their opinions.  

One part of the essay that stood out was when Foster examined how many different texts throughout history have used the same symbol, in this case a river, and how even though the symbol was the same, the Mississippi River was actually discussed twice, their meanings were completely different. For example, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Foster explains that, “the river is both danger and safety, since the relative isolation from land and detection is offset by the perils of river travel on a makeshift conveyance” (Foster 21-22).  This is an interesting idea because even though this is a single symbol in one novel, the meaning of the symbol is still discussed to this day even though it was written almost 150 years ago. In fact, Foster cannot even determine a single meaning for the river when discussing it in his essay. Foster went on to discuss another text, which also used the Mississippi River as a symbol, which was Hart Crane’s poem sequence The Bridge, however this text had a completely different meaning on the river. Foster examines this by saying, “the Mississippi becomes of central importance… bringing the northernmost and southernmost parts of the nation together while making it virtually impossible to move east to west” (Foster 22). This is an interesting paradox because the river allowed for southern and northern states to trade and travel with each other easily along the Mississippi River and overall made the northern and southern regions very connected. However, the eastern and western regions were divided, as it was difficult to travel across rivers rather than just simply going down the river. It wasn’t until the bridge was built that the east and west could finally become connected. This is a captivating concept that Foster discusses because he shows that symbols not only have different meanings, but the meanings that are discussed in literature often vary from author to author.   

Foster also chose to talk about how sometimes authors do not always have intended meanings for their symbols, and quite frequently they let the reader decide what the symbol could and should mean. He discusses this by stating, 

“What the cave symbolizes will be determined to a large extent by how the individual reader engages the text. Every reader’s experience of every work is unique, largely because each person will emphasize various elements to differing degrees, and those differences will cause certain features of the text to become more or less pronounced” (Foster 21). 

When an author chooses to not have an intended meaning, this usually allows for the text to become much stronger as the discussions on the text and its meanings can go on for generations as new ideas are examined and other perspectives are introduced. As a whole, this allows for the text to be much more timeless, as the discussions on those symbols will always be continuing.

When Foster discussed the uses of symbols in his text, “Is That a Symbol?” he was clearly trying to show not only the importance of using symbols in literature but also how important the interpretations of those symbols are. He showed that how even though the symbols used in multiple texts can be the exact same, it does not mean the symbol’s meaning will be the same. In fact, the symbols can actually have completely different meanings and have no similarities whatsoever with the symbols in other texts. He also discussed how a lot of times the meaning of the symbols will be up to the reader’s interpretation, which makes the text that much more special as long as the discussions on the meanings of those symbols continues for years to come. All in all, Foster was showing the importance of not only using symbols in writing but also appreciating and interpreting the meanings of those symbols when reading and examining those texts.
