Symbolism, The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Symbolism,  The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.  

  "A symbol has to have the same meaning to everyone",  I disagree.  Many different symbols have many different meanings to groups or individuals. The cross, star of david, Swastika.. All have different meanings and are viewed very differently by many people across the world. Symbols can do many things, represent things or places or companies, Represent groups or religions, and reinforce thoughts and ideas in literature.

   For example, The cross. The cross has many meanings to many different groups of people. The cross can represent Christianity, A crucifix, or figures in religion or can mean many things or influence many thoughts throughout the world. Another example is the Swastika, A very controversial symbol throughout fairly recent history. The Swastika did not originate from Nazi Germany but from indigenous tribes in what is now Afghanistan, and many other tribes from 3300 BCE onward, a very long time before Nazis. This symbol means "It is Good", Many people now believe it is a symbol of hate and evil because of the way the Nazis used it. But to the tribes of 3300 BCE it meant "it is good" and was commonly used during happy festivals in good spirit. But since the Nazis used it, it is viewed very poorly due to the actions of Nazis.

  Symbols and Symbolism is a very interesting topic to look into and how the same symbol can mean many things to different people. I do completely disagree with the statement "A symbol has to have the same meaning to everyone", because clearly symbols mean many things.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have learned the meaning of symbols to many different people.

          Max