Water is frequently associated with purification, life, and liberty. Water, on the other hand, is a contextual symbol in literature, meaning it can represent a variety of things depending on how it is utilised in a tale or poem. The sort of water chosen as a symbol frequently determines the meaning. Because rivers are continually moving and following a defined path, they are frequently used to represent the flow of life.
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Water’s Importance in Literature
Water can represent ease, grace, and fluidity in literature. Due of its continual flow, it could also represent a driving force. Distinct sorts of water have different connotations. A fast-flowing river, for example, is generally associated with strength and focus. Furthermore, literary critics have long noted that water — particularly river water — is often associated with both rebirth and healing.
So, what are some of the most well-known literary associations? Here are some timeless water symbolism examples:
Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is one of the most well-known works of literature imbued with water symbolism. Ishmael sails on a whaling ship with Captain Ahab in this famous story. Ishmael’s adventure alters him forever, and the sea represents the journey’s unpredictability.
Water represents rebirth in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Elderly Man and the Sea, since the old fisherman is able to catch fish anew after being pulled into the sea.
When the tide rises, the tide falls in The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls. Water, according to H.W. Longfellow, represents fluidity; just as the tide rises and falls, so does time.
Finally, Shakespeare’s dramatist and poet employed water as a symbol of cleaning; in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth urgently tries to wipe away an invisible bloodstain, anxious to be free of guilt.
“Water is the driving force in nature,” Leonardo da Vinci said. “The life in us is like the water in the river,” Henry David Thoreau expressed a similar sentiment. It may surge higher than man has ever seen it this year, flooding the dry uplands; it may even be the memorable year that drowns out all our muskrats.”
Water’s Symbolic Meaning
In most religious traditions, water is a sacred symbol that represents cleanliness, rebirth, and fertility. The Bible uses stories about transformation and cleansing to underscore the importance of water as a spiritual and physical entity. On exceptional occasions, Jewish custom calls for people to immerse themselves in a bath to cleanse their spirits, while Muslims purify their spirits and prepare for daily prayer with water.
