Seasons As Symbols in Rose Tremain’s The Swimming Pool Season

Abstract

Symbols in literary works have been an effective method as they make the authors’ job easier. To heighten the literary impact on the readers, writers use anything as symbols. Any objects, vehicles, birds, animals and many others can serve as puppets in the hands of writers. Broadly speaking, there are two types of symbols. The first is universal and the second is the individual. However, some symbols have been used both as universal and as an individual. Universal symbols are endowed with almost similar meanings across the globe. On the other hand, individual symbols are given different connotations depending on the intentions of the writers. Rose Tremain uses seasons as symbols. Seasons change year by year. It is a cycle. So is human life: full of ups and downs. Nothing is permanent and everything is subject to change. Seasons – spring, summer, autumn or fall and winter – bring about changes mainly to the landscapes and the ecology: people and the symbiotic community. They bring changes to the mindscape of the people too. This paper justifies how Rose Tremain uses the seasons as symbols in The Swimming Pool Season.