Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story

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I have chosen to reflect on the short story, “Used to Live Here Once”, by Jean Rhys. This short story is told in third person limited omniscient. The narrator tells a story of a lady reflecting on her life’s journey as she comes to the sudden realization that she has passed to her next stage in life, death. In this short story there are two different themes; one is life’s journey and the other is death. The themes in the story are important because it tells the reader what the story is about. Jean Rhys uses symbols and images to contribute to the development of the themes in “Used to live Here Once.” The author uses symbols and images to connect the reader to the story. Symbols help to make the theme. “Symbols convey feelings, describe settings, present characters, heighten conflict and create various moods” (Clugston, 2010). In “Used to Live Here Once”, symbols are used repetitively to bring a double dimension to the story. In the beginning of the story, the lady is standing by the river looking at the stepping stones. There are two symbols here. The first is the river, which symbolizes life’s journey, and human experiences. The second symbol is the stepping stones; these are representing various milestones in her life. Two symbols that represent the theme death are the white house, and the yellow grass. The newly painted white house represents life. As the children run into the house, she watches them and realizes she is dead. The yellow grass symbolizes decay. As the sunlight is killing the grass, and this is another sign of death. “Symbolism evokes interest in readers as they find an opportunity to get an insight of the writer’s mind on how he views the world and how he thinks of common objects and actions, having broader implications” (Bavota, 2013). Image is the second literary element. Image is a “distinct representation of something

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