Vlasta Vondráková3rd year extension study programme

American Literature

Vladimir Nabokov – Signs and Symbols

The short story Signs and Symbols was written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1946 and first published in The New Yorker in 1948 under the title Symbols and Signs1. The plot of this story is quite simple at first sight, elderly parents want to visit his mentally ill son. However, other levels could be recognized. For example a mention of Russian (Jewish) emigrants, an insight into perception of a mentally ill person, life in a long marriage and also an atmosphere which signify the direction of the story.

The motif of Russian (Jewish) emigration appears in main characters and their relatives’ destiny. Their old life is hidden in their memories and sometimes surfaced again, for example in old photographs, in the situation with two women in the underground. They left Russia and tried their luck in America. Probably none of them have found new happy home2. The exception should be their relative Isaac, but he has lived in America for 40 years.

Son’s delusions create a world not accessible for living. Everything threatens him, everything wants to observe him, talk to him and collect all information about him. His only effort is to escape from it, to commit suicide. His parents seem to get over his mental illness, but not his attempts to kill himself. They are ready to fight against his tendencies even if they are too weak to win. This fight and belief bound them together for years. However, the third call should not be a girl’s one. Both parents are definitely afraid of the phone call from the hospital. The mention of jellies jars just before the third call should indicate it.

Signs and symbols are two terms mostly used in semiotic. A sign is superior to a symbol and denotes the reality concretely. A symbol is a kind of sign and stands for an object, a person etc. It is designated by convention or coincidence. The title of this story could refer to at least three possible situations in the text and a connection to the theory of Ferdinand de Saussure could be also found3.

The most distinct reference is probably in passages where the author describes the world of mentally ill son. Everything has got for him special meaning which is different from other people’s perception. Common reality is replaced by pervasive spies who monitor him and he is the only one who knows. This illness was by author called “referential mania”. All things, e.g. clouds, trees, pebbles, …, do not let him go. Other people are excluded, no one is intelligent enough to understand these symbols. The strange thing is that it is not said why.

Another two passages should be mentioned. The picture of a small bird, which is too near to death, could say about their son more than any detailed diagnosis. The symbol of vulnerability and coming death is noticeable. Then, at the end of the story, the slipping of three cards and two photographs in conjunction with the mysterious phone calls could foreshadow something bad. Both parents most

1 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1948/05/15/1948_05_15_031_TNY_CARDS_000214135/?currentPage=all2 Mother remembered the shame, the pity, the humiliating difficulties of the journey, and the ugly, vicious, backward children he was with in the special school where he had been placed after they arrived to America. 3 Some parts of the story could be considered for the game with signs and symbols. The same things could be interpreted differently in according to individual experience, environment, mental disposition, … Relationship between the signifier and the signified should not be in harmony.

likely hope that the third call is going to be from the same girl as previous ones. Although the call could be from the hospital, this time somebody can announce the news about their son’s successful attempt to commit suicide. There is no other believable explanation, because the father is really nervous and wants his son to be at home as soon as possible. In spite of these there is almost no tension in the story. The atmosphere is quite and calm. It could be explain by Nabokov’s descriptive style, the story is weakened. The story is not the most important part of the text. The direct speech acts as the means of credibility and authenticity. It is the evidence that the story is not only unreal vision, a heap of imagination. Although its usage is quite rare, it helps to create the story. Readers find it in the last part of the text.

It is quite difficult to count all the foreshadowing moments. Some of them are visible, some of them not so much. From the beginning of the story the first moment is parents’ journey to the hospital. Everything is going wrong and what is more, they do not meet his son. The others are the tiny bird, the weeping girl, the forgotten keys, the slipping cards and photographs, father’s insomnia, his unease and finally the telephone rings. They point to the story and are the factors which develop the plot forward. There is almost no story without them, only the description of son’s mental illness and the situations around them. They prepare the space for action which is not coming. The story is open ending.

“Referential mania” and its description are some of basic elements of the story. The illness is also related to the family’s past and maybe their Jewish roots. Parents were convinced for a long time of son’s childhood that he was gifted. The idea he was destined to be the next saviour should be deliberated. After arriving to America his illness gets worse, he is not able to think, to accept reality. His parents are wounded by hopelessness, but his father finds some rests of his courage and resolution and tries to fight again against the illness. His only wish is just save the son in time. To explain the reasons of this behavior it is necessary to remind the foreshadowing moments and the atmosphere during the day.

The short Signs and symbols is full of implicit indication. The reader is thrown into the story without any introduction at the beginning. All information comes during the text as the words flow. Readers can sometimes feel lost, because there is no noticeable line between the characters’ worlds. However, the gap between them is huge. There is also no trace of communication among them.