Symbol of Forest in Literature
Symbols of Forest in Literary Imagination
:- Ph.Sanamacha Sharma
Introduction:
Forest implies an spot filled with trees. Without trees, a place cannot be called forest. But to understand a forest, we cannot talk only of the trees, then it would be like discussing a leaf singly by forgetting the whole complexity of the tree. Our talk of forest cannot be complete if we do not speak of the birds, animals and insects and other organisms living in it, the soil and the rocks, the ponds and the rivers running through it, the grasses and colourful flowers growing there and man living with it, in it, as a part and as a dependent. Accordingly, deliberation on forest means touching Nature itself in totality, as something separate yet inseparable from human life itself, as something which is in us, as a part of us, outside us and we inside it at the same time. Though there can be nature without forest, there cannot be forest without nature.
Yet forest is an important part of nature. Talking about forest in literature does not mean talking about it impersonally or coldly as a collection of trees from scientific point of view. Literature often represents it like a real person with real feelings and emotions of their own, as representation of parts of our own thoughts and feelings, of collective conscious and unconscious, as sort of a mother who nurses her children, or something as inscrutable as mysteries of life itself which has the potential to create, sustain or destroy life like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in Hindu mythology.
Tree as metaphor/image/symbol
It is impossible to imagine life without forest. Human life and human settlement cannot be envisioned without trees. Trees and forests have been shaping the cultural imagination of people since prehistory time. Even today, some people still consider forest groves as sacred and mysterious. Even today, there are many animistic people who believe in deities dwelling in these forest groves which control the general
:- Ph.Sanamacha Sharma
Introduction:
Forest implies an spot filled with trees. Without trees, a place cannot be called forest. But to understand a forest, we cannot talk only of the trees, then it would be like discussing a leaf singly by forgetting the whole complexity of the tree. Our talk of forest cannot be complete if we do not speak of the birds, animals and insects and other organisms living in it, the soil and the rocks, the ponds and the rivers running through it, the grasses and colourful flowers growing there and man living with it, in it, as a part and as a dependent. Accordingly, deliberation on forest means touching Nature itself in totality, as something separate yet inseparable from human life itself, as something which is in us, as a part of us, outside us and we inside it at the same time. Though there can be nature without forest, there cannot be forest without nature.
Yet forest is an important part of nature. Talking about forest in literature does not mean talking about it impersonally or coldly as a collection of trees from scientific point of view. Literature often represents it like a real person with real feelings and emotions of their own, as representation of parts of our own thoughts and feelings, of collective conscious and unconscious, as sort of a mother who nurses her children, or something as inscrutable as mysteries of life itself which has the potential to create, sustain or destroy life like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in Hindu mythology.
Tree as metaphor/image/symbol
It is impossible to imagine life without forest. Human life and human settlement cannot be envisioned without trees. Trees and forests have been shaping the cultural imagination of people since prehistory time. Even today, some people still consider forest groves as sacred and mysterious. Even today, there are many animistic people who believe in deities dwelling in these forest groves which control the general
References: Chevalier, J. & Gheerbrant, A. (1996) The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Penguin. Cirlot, J.E.(1962) A Dictionary of Symbols. Trans. Jack Sage. New York: Philosophical Library. P.328. Harrison, R.P. (1992) Forests: the Shadow of Civilization. London: University of Chicago Press. Mistry, Rohinton (1996) A Fine Balance. Great Britain: Faber and Faber. Thoreau, Henry D (1854,1982) Walden. India: Oxford University Press.