Discussing symbolism in the "lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, And of Clay are we created by Isabel Allende and Hills like white elephant by Ernest Hemingway.

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Symbolism is one of the most important literary terms used often by many writers to convey their central idea. According to the Longman Contemporary Dictionary, symbolism can be defined as a device that evokes more than a literal meaning from a person, object, image or word. The author Isabel Allende in his short story, "And of Clay are we created," Toni Cade Bambara in "The lesson" and finally Ernest Hemingway the author of the short story "Hills like White Elephants" adopts the use of symbolism to suggest their main point.

The central idea of Toni Cade Bambara's short story "The Lesson" was inequalities in the distribution of wealth. The meaning of Mrs. Moore trip with the children to FAO Schwartz is captured in Bambara's use of Symbolism. The children looked fiercely at a number of exclusive toys outside the store. Some of these toys included a sailboat and a paperweight.

The children had no idea what the paperweight was. Sylvia said to herself "my eyes tell me it's a chunk of glass cracked with something heavy, and different color inks dripped into the splits, then the whole thin put into a over or something. But for $480 it don't make sense." Even though Mrs. Moore explained to them what the paper weight was, the children still did not understand the use or the price. A paperweight is used to hold something that is of value. Since the children have never had anything valuable, the paper weight can be used to symbolize that their neighborhood (slums) many be holding them down. The children are the people under this paperweight. To these children the cost of the toy is a life's worth of work. The sailboat similarly is used by Bambara to stand for freedom and the journey that lies...