Symbolism
The characters and events of the book can often be seen as representations of certain ways of thinking, or times of change. Such characters are Alvin, representing Man's drive to explore; Jeserac, representing the wisdom, and fearfulness, of the average people of Diaspar. One such event that is representative in the book is when most of the people of Diaspar learn of the existence of Lys, and in panic, run to the Hall of Creation hoping to flee into the Future, which shows how people often resent change happening around them. The final example is seen at the end of the book, when Alvin is looking down on Earth from space for the last time. He is looking down from above the North Pole and is able to see night from one side of the Earth, and daylight from the other. This illustrates that although one age has just ended, a new one is just dawning.
Read more about this topic: The City And The Stars
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)