Symbolism, the giving of symbolic meaning to something. Using one thing to represent another, usually in a larger, meaningful sense. Symbolism is a technique often used in literature, and can be found in almost every book a person was to read. It's a technique authors apply to their writing when trying to show the reader the importance of small details. A way to put things in a bigger perspective. When talking about advanced literature and authors with well crafted work, the idea of something being symbolic will come up. Using symbolism in writing is seen as an advanced skill, and authors are commonly praised for it. The most frequent use of symbolism in literature is having an inanimate object represent an emotion of a character, or to provoke a deeper sense of thinking in the reader's mind.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson is a fantastic work of art, and symbolism is a recurring craftsmanship seen. Nelson crafts a story about friendship, love, and the sense of oneself. The two narrators, Jude and Noah, are twins, and the book is written from both of their perspectives in alternating chapters, in order to better shape both of their characters. Jude and Noah are both artists, and possess very great, yet very different, talents they both inherited from their mother. Just like the artists featured in MoMA and The Guggenheim, Noah and Jude use their art as an outlet for their emotions, and both twins convey their back stories and current state of mind in their work. Noah's point of view is portrayed three years before Jude's, when he was thirteen, whereas Jude's perspective is narrated when both are sixteen. In between those two milestones in their lives, tragic things occurred and their art changed with them. 

When Jude was in eighth grade, her mother died in a car accident along the cliff overlooking the beach where Jude spent most of her time. Prior to her mother's death, Jude sculpted wonderful figures out of sand. People made out of small grains, sculpted into the shape of a full bodied human. The image of one person being made up of littler conceptions. Making something larger out of smaller, more detailed pieces. A beautiful, and in someways optimistic, message. After Jude's mother passed, Jude's art is cracked and broken. The clay sculptures she makes are destroyed, shaped like blobs, and the pathetic attempt to put them back together is always being made. Expressed in her own art is the progression her emotions made over the course of three years. Her sense of self transgressed from feeling secure, beautiful, put together, to broken, replaceable, past the point of reconstruction. One transition seen very clearly within the change of her art. 

Like many artists, Jude's artwork was a reflection of how she felt about her life. In a way, it was the reaction she had to certain events in her life. When visiting a gallery in an art museum, often next to the paintings of famous artists, e.g. Van Gogh or Picasso, a description of that individual as well as some details of their life will be featured next to their work. Additionally, as seen in other museums, a particular gallery will be dedicated to one artist, and their different paintings, sculptures, drawings, etc. will be featured in chronological order of when they were made, in a timeline like fashion. This is for the sole purpose of portraying the relationship between the lives of the artist and the art created, and the change the art made when the artist went through challenges or victories in their own experiences. "Muse" is a common term used in the artistic community, and it is a word described as a way of retrieving inspiration from something or someone. Often, artist's are their own muses, and use their own emotions and experiences as inspiration. An artist's art is often a symbol for their own emotions and experiences. 

Pain is a common theme in many works of art, writing and visual. Artistic creation is a reflection of a person. Symbolism used in a book might not only have something to do with the character's turmoil, but can also be a mirror image of the author's. The characters themselves can be symbolic of the person creating them. Like in visual art, pained people create with an essence of pain. Sad plots in literature are often inspired by depressing scenarios the author has encountered in their own life. Pain is a more inspiring emotion than, for example, happiness or joy. This is because pain is a more in depth emotion, and requires more critical analyses to figure out. Because pain is an individual emotion, it results in more unique craft. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"-Leo Tolstoy. Everyone's pain comes from a different place, a different experience, a different person. This is why the incorporation of symbolism is so valued in the world of literature, one situation described in a book stands for an entirely unique source of emotion.

Symbolism is used everywhere there is creation. Symbols are used to display deeper meaning and feeling, and it cannot be forgotten that there is always an origin for emotion.  Art is all about representation, hence the need for symbols. Writing is a way for authors to show the world how they feel in themselves, and a way to critique and analyze the issues many are facing today. A way to allow small things represent larger ideas.