Publish date:

Nov 14, 2017

Symbolic Animals

Write a story or a scene involving an animal that symbolizes something else. It can represent a concept, an experience, an emotion, a historical moment, or anything else you can think of.

Author:

By A. Burnham Shute (Moby-Dick edition - C. H. Simonds Co) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Herman Melville's nautical classic Moby Dick debuted in the US on November 14, 1851. As you may know, the story follows the adventures of a protagonist self-described as "Ishmael" as he sets out on the whaling ship Pequod with the obsessive Captain Ahab on a quest to exact revenge upon the albino sperm whale that bit off Ahab's leg.

The whale in the story is rich with symbolism, and its meaning varies depending on the chapter and the character describing it. To Ahab, the whale is a manifestation of evil. To Ishmael, it suggests a threatening reversal of the concept of whiteness as purity. The whale also variously represents imperialism, racial inequality, masculinity, the limitations of human understanding, and an unknownable God.

The Prompt: Write a story or a scene involving an animal that symbolizes something else. It can represent a concept, an experience, an emotion, a historical moment, or anything else you can think of.

Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments below.

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