Symbols Gone Wrong

As we learned during the first few weeks of school, a symbol is simply any image that has added significance associated with it. In literature, two of the ways that we interpret and analyze literature are through the tracing of imagery and the interpretation of the symbolism attached to this imagery. Although we are never sure what the author intended to say (unless we are somehow able to bring the authors to our classroom and interview them about choices they made during the writing of their books), we are able to infer a great deal about their intended messages by exploring and analyzing the use of imagery and symbolism in their works. In fact, the intended message becomes quite unimportant once a piece of writing, art, music or theater hits the public realm; the most important factor then becomes the public's interpretation of this message.

If the intended message and the perceived message happen to differ, there is very little that the author or artist can do to bring the public back to his line of thinking. When art or literature is released to the public, it becomes public property in a very real sense. Think of a politician who delivers a controversial speech that is not well-received. She may have intended to wow a group of potential voters with her wit and intelligence, but the intended message got lost in the delivery. Instead of being impressed with her command of the election issues, the public now views her as elitist and out of touch with the common man. In the end, her intended message matters little; the only thing that matters in the wake of her speech is how the public has received the message.

The public display outside of the library in our school is a prime example where the message intended differs from the message delivered. The title of the display, "Homosexuals in the Holocaust," suggests that the creators of the exhibit intended to deliver some sort of message about the persecution of homosexuals in the Holocaust, but their misguided use of the Nazi swastika rendered their intended message moot. The swastika was originally a symbol in Hindu derived from the word for lucky, but its intimate association with the Nazi movement and the extermination of 11 million innocent victims (5,000 to 15,000 of whom were targeted homosexuals, according to website Non-jewish [sic] Victims of the Holocaust, http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/fivmil.htm), has rendered it a powerful symbol of hatred, fear and the incredible depths to which humanity can potentially sink. It is precisely for this reason that modern-day Germany has outlawed the display of this symbol in association with Nazism, and it is also for this reason that such a symbol has no place in our school, regardless of the intended message.