Critically examine
the major symbols used by Lawrence in “Sons and Lovers”.
Lawrence probes deep into the
consciousness of his characters with a clever use of symbols. Lawrence makes an
extensive use of symbols in his works. A proper understanding of these symbols
leads to a better understanding of the novel and arises appreciation from the
reader. Commenting on Lawrence’s symbolism Jung writes, “A symbol is alive in
so far as it is pregnant with meaning…” Symbolism is an essential feature of Lawrence’s
art, because a symbol is the expression of a thing not to be characterized in
any other better way. Thus, in order to clearly describe the bidden and the concealed,
Lawrence makes use of symbols which in their turn also increase the expressiveness
of his language.
There is an “abundance of
symbols” in “Sons and Lovers”. Here we find a large number of passages of Nature-description
in the novel. The descriptions of natural scenery and phenomenon are enjoyable
in themselves, but in some cases these descriptions also serve a symbolic purpose.
An old-ash tree which grows outside the house of Morel family is a fine example
of symbol in this context. When the west wind blows, the tree produces shrieking
sounds. Walter Morel loves this sound. In fact, he says that these sounds are
like music, and they lull him to sleep. But Paul, Arthur and Annie hate the
tree. To Paul especially, the tree seems to produce a demoniacal noise. From
Paul’s points of view, the tree symbolizes the discord and the strife going on
perpetually between his father and his mother.
Flowers too play a very important
role in this Novel. On one occasion, Mrs. Morel, who is pregnant at the time,
is pushed out of the house by her husband, and she walks into the garden where
she gets smeared with the yellow dust of the lilies. It seems that the dust of
these flowers is a kiss of benediction by nature for her and to her unborn
child. A similar benediction is revived by Paul and Clara after they rise from
their love-making on the river bank. Even the plucking of flowers acquires a
symbolic significance in one episode. Paul, Miriam and Clara have gone into the
fields where flowers are blooming in great abundance. Both Paul and Miriam
pluck the flowers and gather them into bunches, but Clara refuses to pluck
flowers on the ground that plucking them means killing them. in this context, a
critic tells us that Miriam plucks flowers with a false reverence that Paul
plucks them lovingly, but that Clara does not pluck them at all. Clara respects
the life in the flowers at this stage, but later when her sexual desire has
been fully awakened by Paul, she too begins to pluck flowers and the flowers,
in their turn, defend her.
