Allegory and Symbolism

a. O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" (p. 493) b. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (p. 413). a. For "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" — How might this story be read as an allegory? Allegories are stories that use multiple symbolic elements to tell a completely different story. For example, in the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," the path to grandmother's house might represent the 'correct' path toward a specific goal, while the wolf and the flowers he tempts Red Riding Hood with might symbolize distractions that jeopardize her ability to reach her goal. Another possible interpretation is that this story warns little girls about sexual predators, because the red hood represents the girl's virginity, which the wolf consumes. So, if we understand the major elements in Marquez's story as symbols for something else, what alternate story might this represent? b. For "The Things They Carried" — Objects tell us something about the person who owns them. For example, consider what your shoes, phone case, jewelry, or clothing might tell people about YOU. Given the weight of everything the men in O'Brien's story had to carry with them, we can tell a lot about who they were by paying attention to the unique objects each individual chose to carry in addition to everything that was required. Choose any major character from this story (Jimmy Cross, Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Rat Kiley, or Henry Dobbins), analyze the symbolism of his name and then go through the entire story and pay attention to the unique items that he was carrying. What do thing tell us, specifically, about that character as an individual? What do these things suggest about the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, cultural, and political realities of this soldier?    

Sample Solution