Symbols and Signs - Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Story revolves around a couple trying to choose a birthday present for their son in a mental institution.
• The son is afflicted with referential mania, a condition where he believes everything is a secret reference to him.

Characters

• The Parents: Aging couple, struggling financially in New York, dependent on the husband's brother, Isaac ("the Prince").
• The Son: Mentally ill, suffers from referential mania, has attempted suicide multiple times.

Setting

• The story takes place in New York City.
• The couple visits their son in a sanitarium on his birthday.

Key Events

• The couple decides on a present: a basket of ten fruit jellies.
• Journey to the sanitarium is fraught with delays and discomfort.
• They learn their son attempted suicide again and are advised not to visit.

Son's Condition

• Referential Mania: Patient believes everything is a coded message about them.
  • Objects, nature, and people are perceived as spies or conspirators.
  • The son meticulously decodes perceived messages in his environment.

Parents' Reflections

• Long reflection on their son's life and mental illness.
• The boy's past: A gifted child with strange phobias, which evolved into severe delusions.
• Memories of their European past and struggles in America.
• Acceptance of life’s losses and hardships.

Climax

• After returning home, the father becomes agitated, fearing for the son's safety.
• They decide to bring him home to safeguard him.
• The father plans how they will manage the son's care.

Ending

• The story concludes with a series of phone calls at midnight, leaving the parents anxious and disturbed.

Themes

• Mental Illness: The impact on family, society's misunderstanding.
• Parental Love and Suffering: Persistent concern for their child despite hardships.
• Isolation: Physical and emotional isolation of the son and the parents.
• Symbols and Reality: Exploration of how individuals perceive reality and assign meanings to symbols.

Literary Devices

• Symbolism: Frequent use of symbols to illustrate the son's distorted reality.
• Imagery: Detailed descriptions evoke empathy and understanding of the characters' lives.
• Contrast: The mundane reality of the parents' lives juxtaposed with the son's fantastical delusions.