Burned The Book Symbolism

Jean Rhys,The Day They Burned the Books is a alluring story that uses symbolism and imagery to complement the themes of oppression, self-acceptance, and the ugly extent of love. The short story takes place in the Dominican Republic just before World War one. During this time, the socioeconomic aspect in the Dominican Republic was not favorable. This made it very hard for the natives and many of the people who lived there. The story is told in first person meaning, the narrator is included throughout this story and is telling it through her eyes. Although the narrator is young English white girl and naive, the reader can still understand the major symbols; the significance of the books, the burning of the books, the library where the books
are read, and the oppression and abuse behind Mr.
and Mrs. Sawyer’s relationship. The friendship between Eddie and the narrator, the image of Mrs. Sawyer as a woman, and the negative treatment of Mrs. Sawyer, represent main concepts of the book. In the beginning of the short story, Mr. Sawyer is introduced as an agent for a small steamship line. It is implied that he had given his family such a bad reputation that he moved to the Dominican Republic. This in itself is an example of oppression. We tend to think of the oppressed as the victims of the story, but Mr. Sawyer was kicked out of his family because he was a disgrace. He was put down and moved so far away he did not have to deal with it. The people who knew him also assumed that he had a private income, but could not understand why he moved to a place he highly disliked, and why he married a colored woman.
Although, she was known to be a decent, respectable, nicely educated, and once very pretty colored woman. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer had a little boy named Eddie. Eddie and the little girl, who is the young narrator, would go into Mr. Sawyers library to borrow books. The library is where the books are and where Eddie and the narrator enjoy reading the books. The library is a symbol of peace and calmness, a place that is quiet. It is also a place to get away from his parents fighting and all the commotion. Eddie goes to the library to gain a better understanding of the European ways and to find out more about his identity. Another reason he spends time in the library is to feel closer to his father. His father hates his mother, and Eddie and him don't really have a relationship. His father hates his mother because she is of African American descent, and he feels a sense of control over her. He does not feel the need to respect her, and Mrs. Sawyer takes all the mistreatment that Mr. Sawyer does to her. When Mr. Sawyer dies, Mrs. Sawyer decides to burn or sell all of his books. The two children have an argument about the different races of each of their mothers and which was prettier and more respected and known, then steal two books and run out In this short story, Mrs.
Sawyer is clearly facing oppression in the most distinct of ways. We know from the beginning that Mr. Sawyer has no respect for Mrs. Sawyer. Mrs. Sawyer absolutely despised the man she had married. When Eddie, Mrs. Sawyer, and the narrator were in the library the narrator recognizes that the feeling Mrs. Sawyer had against Mr. Sawyer was complete hate. He would make her feel insecure and self conscious by telling jokes about her hair or her appearance. that was his mysterious, obscure, sacred English joke of oppression. Mrs. Sawyer was left with all of the abuse and the remnants of the hate she had towards him. She had suffered all kinds of ill treatment from her husband. The author makes it clear that Mrs. Sawyer is a, decent, respectable, nicely educated colored women. This makes the reader believe that she did have a very good reason for burning all of his books. Mrs. Sawyers says that, “Men be mercifully shot; but women must be tortured”. Her oppression has caused this ill, bitter, outlook on all
men. The name of the book the girl managed to steal was “The Strength of the Dead”. This was extremely fitting because all of the confused feelings the family was now going through was a direct result of the dead man The fact that Mrs. Sawyer chooses to burn certain books and some books were to be sold symbolizes the books in depth. Mrs. Sawyer purposely planned on selling the books written by men, which could possibly symbolize how men were who brought in the income in families. She meant on burning the books written by women. This could symbolize the fact that women were often pushed aside, or symbolize the fact that women in this time period looked down on and tended to ignore other women. When Mr. Sawyer passed , Eddie cried when he did because he realized what he had just lost. Eddie didn’t cry at all at his father’s funeral, because he still had something left of his father, which was the books. But as soon as his mother decided to get rid of the books, he lost both of his parents, and that was when he broke down. The ending could also be interpreted that when Mr. Sawyer passed, Eddie was given strength. Also, that when the young girl picked that book up, it literally gave her the strength of the dead. The narrator and Eddie both faced oppression with they're heritage. The narrator is a young white English girl, while Eddie has an English father and black mother. Eddie’s father is overly prideful with his English heritage and expects Eddie to be also. Both children are confused of their real cultural identity.When others who had never seen England before talked about it around Eddie, he remained silent because he felt awkward and out of place. This even started to give the narrator doubts about what home was. Eddie does not like strawberries or daffodils, which are English, even though his father constantly talks about them. This confuses Eddie even more. The narrator states that her relationships with the few full-bred English boys and girls she had met were not her type. The narrator pointed out that if she called herself English, she was told that she is not English, but a horrid colonial. Both children were also ridiculed by the black children. These are examples of oppression because both of the children are confused about what they really are when it comes to their heritage. The narrator is a white english girl in an island wit mostly colored people. Eddie is neither full english or full colored so he is confused on what or how he should act or be. This causes the other kids to want to point fingers at the narrator for being english, which to some of the kids this means she's a horrible, disgusting colonial. For Eddie, he can also be oppressed because he is neither. The English kids can make fun of him and mock him for being half colored and the colored kids can mock him for being half English.