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Symbolism In Cat's Eye

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Symbolism In Cat's Eye
There’s large amounts of symbolism in the story, especially in the latter half. To begin, the title of the story Cat’s Eye represents the marble that Elaine was fond of in her childhood. She stated that the marble was something she could protect herself with, and it represented her lost childhood because as time carries on, she didn’t care much for the marble and forgot about it completely till she discovered it much later on in her life. It symbolized her innocence and who she was, and when she lost the marble, she lost that part of herself as well. Later on, Elaine’s paintings have been revealed to the public, and it’s been made clear what those paintings represent. She talks about several paintings she made, describing them all in detail, …show more content…
The Virgin Mary is one of the main allusions in the story, as she is the main religious figure Elaine looks up to in her childhood. Virgin Mary is also a concept that Elaine likes to paint a lot. During the night while painting Virgin Mary, Elaine describes her painting, saying “Virgin Mary descending to the earth, which is covered with snow and slush. She is wearing a winter coat over her blue robe, and has a purse slung over her shoulder. She’s carrying two brown paper bags full of groceries. Several things have fallen from the bags: an egg, an onion, an apple. She looks tired.” (168) This shows Elaine’s perspective of the Virgin Mary, compared to what she used to think of the Virgin Mary as a child. Ordinary, but always dubbed as willing to help, and Elaine seems to think of Virgin Mary as an actual human being instead of an angelic creation. Someone who gets tired from holding the weight of the world on her shoulders. She has a rather different perspective of religion, because as a child, she used religion as a way to fit in. However this perspective is dropped eventually, and she regards religion as something

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