Symbolism in The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King Essay

Symbolism in The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King - Essay Example Mostly fairytales apart from the original story have to tell the other stories as well. The writers of the fairytales use some symbols to take the simple narrative to a higher level where it unravels some cosmic realities. Symbol is something which stands for something else. Generally concrete objects are used as symbols to conceptualize the abstractions. Symbols are born out of the connotative meanings of the words and are used by the skilled writers to highlight the abstract concepts. The novel The Eyes of Dragon, though apparently a fairytale, employs certain symbols and involves archetypal characters like Flagg (the incarnate evil: the offspring of the infernal serpent). The very age of Flagg suggests that he is more than a human character. The timelessness he enjoys makes him a symbolic character. Peter represents the archetypal innocent hero always beguiled by a near one (Thomas). Archetypes are actually the symbols that recur in literary depiction and are the offspring of huma n unconscious. Northrop Frye () and Jung contend that human unconscious has a stock of images or symbols that are shared by all and have some sort of cosmic significance. The symbol of Eyes of the dragon is a stock symbol used traditionally to distinguish between good and evil. Koch (2003) declares that The Symbol of Dragon’s Eye belongs to ancient Germanic tradition. ... It also stands for balance of power, love and wisdom. In King’s novel it relates to the mystery and also acts as the crystal ball through which u can see the see the truth. Thomas sees Flagg poisoning his father through Eyes of dragon. Thomas heeded Flagg's advice not to go often, but he did use the passageway from time to time, and peeked at his father through the glass eyes of Niner-peeked into a world where everything became greeny-gold. Going away later with a pounding headache (as he almost always did), he would think:Your head aches because you were seeing the way dragons must see the world-as if everything was dried out and ready to burn ( King , p. 78). The animals in the Novel (their symbolic significance) The animals in the novel have symbolic significance. The animal kingdom is represented in many instances from dogs to dragons and all of them have symbolic significance. Animals can be divided in to two groups: one belonging to evil and other belonging to good. Anim als related to Flagg are the harbingers of evil and destruction while animal of the good group represent faithfulness. Frisky represents the archetypal guide soothsayer who brings the protagonists to their required destination. According to Michael Peebles (n.d.) animals related to Flagg are the symbols of his evil designs for the kingdom. He means corruption to the Kingdom and the animals are the instruments that bring this corruption. The dragon is on such example and another example is the hawk.† Frisky The dog is the cosmic symbol of faithfulness and in Christianity takes the role of guide. Frisky, with his noble nose helps in locating the exact place where Dennis, son of Brandon has gone to from Peyna’s farmhouse. The Dragon